Fear in the air as Morocco flights ban leaves 200 in the lurch

Around 200 Hongkongers are stranded in Morocco after the country closed its airspace, Civic Party lawmaker Jeremy Tam Man-ho said yesterday.

Morocco said on Wednesday that it had decided to suspend all international commercial flights until further notice, causing foreign nationals to be stuck there.

Tam said there are four Hong Kong group tours with 150 members stranded in Morocco so far.

"Apart from those 150 people, there are also 57 individual travelers . . .The total tally is about 200," said Tam.

The lawmaker explained that some stranded Hongkongers had attempted to seek help from the immigration department as well as the Chinese embassy in Rabat, but to no avail.

Others had tried to return by buying tickets for flights transferring in nearby destinations such as Spain, but this also failed, Tam added.

"The situation is that a lot of flights have been canceled so far," he said.

Tam also said that he had received 57 appeals for help, including one from an elderly person and another from someone with medical needs.

The immigration department did not comment by the editorial deadline.

The news came as Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Patrick Nip Tak-kuen yesterday said that as of Monday, more than 3,400 Hongkongers stranded in Hubei had sought help from the government, including six women who are expecting.

The authorities has sent medication to 233 Hongkongers held up in the province on Monday for those with chronic illnesses and special medication needs, Nip added.

He also said that around 20 Hongkongers had been confirmed to be infected with the coronavirus in the mainland as of Monday, including 14 in Hubei, four in Guangdong and one in Guangxi province.

Of the 20 Hong Kong residents, 15 of them have been discharged, one has died and another is currently being treated in a hospital in Guangdong.

On Monday, the government announced that it will arrange a second chartered flight to evacuate Hongkongers stranded in Xiaogan city, Xianning city, Huangshi city and Wuhan, capital of Hubei.

As for Hong Kong residents stranded in other cities of the province, the authority will roll out the evacuation arrangements step by step.

In early March, four chartered flights carrying the first batch of 469 Hong Kong residents from Hubei landed in Hong Kong, comprising 379 from Wuhan city and the rest from other cities in the province.

erin.chan@singtaonewscorp.com