NEW DELHI, Nov. 28– At least five flights bound for Sri Lanka were diverted to Thiruvananthapuram International Airport in India’s southern state of Kerala on Friday due to bad weather prevailing over Colombo, officials said.
The flights included two SriLankan Airlines flights, one from Dubai and another from Doha, an Etihad Airways flight from Abu Dhabi, an AirAsia flight from Kuala Lumpur, and an Indigo flight from Mumbai.
Cyclone Ditwah swept across Sri Lanka on Friday, as torrential rainfall triggered landslides, leaving over 50 people dead and over 20 others missing, media reports said.
According to Thiruvananthapuram International Airport Ltd, more flights may be diverted in view of a cyclone warning over Colombo.
Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department has issued a cyclone alert for north Tamil Nadu and Puducherry and adjoining south Andhra Pradesh coasts.
The cyclone is very likely to continue to move north-northwestwards across the Sri Lanka coast and adjoining southwest Bay of Bengal and reach over the southwest Bay of Bengal near North Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and adjoining south Andhra Pradesh coasts by early Sunday morning. (Namibia Daily News/Xinhua)
