Families give information about 156 people from Haryana stuck in Iraq

Families in Haryana have so far informed the state government about 156 people who are stranded in Iraq, even as External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Sunday assured Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda that all of them and others stuck in the Gulf nation were safe.

Majority of those stranded are from Yamunanagar, Kurukshetra, Karnal and Ambala districts, an official release said here today.

46 of them are from Yamunanagar district, 40 from Kurukshetra, 24 from Karnal, 32 from Ambala, six from Kaithal, two from Mahendergarh and one each from Sirsa, Rohtak, Bhiwani, Faridabad, Sonipat and Panchkula districts, it said.

Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has assured Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda that the people hailing from Haryana are safe in Iraq and members of their families should not worry about them, a Haryana government release said.

Swaraj also said the Indian government was trying its best to bring back all those Indians who are stranded in the strife-torn Iraq, it said.

The state government has set up a round-the-clock functional control room with telephone number 0172-5059197, where people can provide information about members of their families or relatives stranded in Iraq so that necessary steps can be taken for their safe evacuation.