Malappuram officials involved in Kerala plane crash rescue ops test positive for coronavirus

Malappuram District Collector K Gopalakrishnan, his deputy and 21 other of his staff in the collectorate have tested positive for coronavirus.

Gopalakrishnan on August 7 actively participated in the rescue operations following the Air India Express flight crash at the Karipur airport in Kozhikode. He reportedly went into quarantine after that, and tested positive on Friday.

Malappuram district has the second highest number of coronavirus cases -- 1,965 cases -- after the state capital.

Malappuram district police chief Abdul Karim tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday.

At least 18 people were killed and more than 100 injured when an Air India Express passenger plane repatriating Indians stranded by the COVID-19 pandemic overshot the runway in heavy rain near the southern city of Kozhikode last week.

The Boeing-737 flight from Dubai to Calicut International Airport was carrying 190 passengers and crew, the civil aviation ministry said in a statement. Among them were 10 infants.

India, which shut down all air travel in late March to try to contain the novel coronavirus, has restarted limited international air travel. Air India Express AXB1344 was a government-operated repatriation flight for Indians previously unable to return home because of the travel restrictions.

(with inputs from agencies)