MORE medical students from Bahrain caught up in war-torn Ukraine have spoken to the GDN of their ordeal and desperate attempts to find their way to safety.
Anxious parents have also set up a database, open to families of all nationalities living in the kingdom to register, so that they can offer support to each other and share information.
Bahrain’s Foreign Ministry said that it continues to closely monitoring the situation of Bahraini citizens in Ukraine. It is not known how many Bahrainis are caught up in the turmoil.
“The Foreign Ministry affirms the keenness of Bahrain government to ease and facilitate the necessary procedures for the safe evacuation of citizens through secure channels,” said a statement.
Expatriate Vipul Joseph, a fourth-year medical student at Kyiv’s Bogomolets National Medical University, spoke to the GDN as he waited to catch a train away from under-siege capital city Kyiv, as directed by the Indian Embassy.
“I have been sitting in a bunker below our hostel since Thursday night and food supplies are running out,” said the clearly terrified 23-year-old. “The Ukrainian soldiers helped us – they opened a supermarket and we could get some basic stuff, but it was still scary.
“We were told to flee as soon as possible and to get to the railway station because they expected another attack on Kyiv at any time.
“There are approximately 600 to 700 students waiting for one train – I’m not sure how many of us will make it on to it.”
Difficulty
Back in Bahrain, the student’s father Joseph Antony said he had experienced difficulty contacting his son because of disrupted network connections. “We managed to speak to him yesterday and he was worried,” he said. “I’m glad that he will soon be going to a safer location.”
The train is set to make its way to Lviv, a city in western Ukraine, just 70km from the border with Poland.
The GDN yesterday highlighted the plight of students waiting to be rescued from under the Hotel Mir in Kharkiv. Their plight remains the same although some have been moved to a warmer area of the building.
“For three days, we were in downstairs bunkers which were really cold and some students started to suffer from hypothermia,” said Aleena Mariam James, a first-year student at the Kharkiv National Medical University.
“Although we’re all still in bunkers we have been moved upstairs which is quite warm compared to downstairs.
“We desperately want the Indian Embassy to evacuate us as soon as possible. We’re still hear shelling sounds which create panic.
“They already evacuated students from Kyiv to Poland and Hungary but they appear blind towards us. There are thousands of students trapped here too,” added the 19-year-old.
Anamika Ragesh, also 19, a VN Karazin University student, said she felt ‘suffocated’ in the bunker.
“Luckily we are safe, we have food and water, but this bunker is suffocating me,” she said.
Parents of these students in Bahrain have launched the database. “There are currently 11 of us and we welcome anyone with a child in Ukraine to contact us so that we can approach the authorities together,” said Manju Ravikumar.
One family of long-term Bahrain resident expatriates received good news from their 19-year-old daughter who is travelling by train to Hungary after sheltering in Kyiv for two days in an underground metro station.
“It’s been really stressful – every day, it was like telling myself that I hope to live another day – we were living in fear,” she told the GDN from the train.
Her parents have been impressed by her courage and the fact that she also witnessed the best in people at the worst possible time.
“She made me proud by saying it was a time when she saw humanity at its best,” said her mother, who asked for the family to remain anonymous.
“She had packed some biscuits before leaving and others served rice and vegetables, which they all shared. She is now on her way to Hungary – we’re hoping to see her soon.”
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