Unfamiliar food, language issues: stranded Air India passengers in Russia recount suffering

New Delhi: The passengers of the Air India flight stranded in remote Magadan of Russia are struggling with language barrier, unfamiliar food and difficult accommodation, NDTV reported.

The Air India flight, a Boeing 777, heading to San Francisco from Delhi, developed a technical snag requiring emergency landing on Tuesday.

There were 216 passengers including children and the older people alongside 16 crew members onboard.

One passenger, who reached out to the news outlet, said that the situation is challenging for most passengers from inadequate facilities and lack of clarity as to when they could leave.

The passenger, known by the name Gagan, said that their bags were still in the stranded aircraft after they were sent to different locations by buses.

Adding further, the passenger said some of them were staying in a school, lying on mattresses on the floor and toilets were ‘not right’.

Passengers were struggling with the unfamiliar food served to them as they included ‘ a lot of seafood and non-veg’, and some people subsist on bread and soup.

Older people are running out of medication that they carried with them on the journey.

The passenger said being accommodated at a college dorm made them better off with Wi-Fi connection as they could touch with their families.

At the school where some passengers are lodged, the report said there are ‘about 20 people in one room’.

Some passengers were given ‘coke and bread’ after they found other foods unfamiliar.

Meanwhile, Air India said a replacement plane, to be sent from Mumbai, would take passengers to their destination.

Russia’s aviation authority reportedly was checking the plane’s technical issues.

The Deputy Spokesperson of the US State Department said US citizens are likely to be on flight, adding that it was watching the situation closely.