Coronavirus: 26 Mizoram residents rescued after getting stranded on bridge along sealed India-Myanmar border

At least 26 people from Mizoram, including 11 children, were rescued and brought back to India after they got stranded on a bridge along the India-Myanmar border which has been sealed in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, officials said on Monday.

The 26 people, most of them from Aizawl, had gone to neighbouring Myanmar to meet their relatives much before the international border was sealed on March 22.

As they were returning home on Saturday night, Myanmar Army allowed them on the bridge over river Tiau along the international border but Assam Rifles personnel refused to allow them to enter Mizoram as the border was sealed, Champhai District Additional Deputy Commissioner Mark Lalthanliana told PTI.

The Assam Rifles jawans said they will allow the 26 persons to enter only by the orders of the Union Home Ministry, he said.

The bridge connects Zokhawthar in Mizoram's Champhai district with Rih in Myanmar.

Timely intervention by Mizoram Home Minister Lalchamliana and Transport Minister T J Lalnuntluanga, also the MLA of Champhai North constituency under which Zokhawthar falls, led to the rescue of the stranded people, the official said.

They were brought back to Zokhawthar around 10 pm on Sunday and placed under quarantine at the District Panchayat Resources Centre in Keifantlang area in the district, he said.

Residents of Zokhawthar provided the stranded people with tarpaulin and food during their stay on the bridge, the official said.

Mizoram shares a 510-km international border with Myanmar.