Stranded TB patient allowed to fly home

Manama: A hospital patient, who went on hunger strike on Wednesday claiming Qatar Airways was refusing to fly him home, has now reconciled with the airline. The GDN reported yesterday that Rajesh Kumar, from India, vowed from his bed at the Salmaniya Medical Complex to neither eat nor drink until the carrier found a seat for him.
Mr Kumar, a labourer for Nasser S Al Hajri, in Saudi Arabia, is being treated for tuberculosis (TB) and hospital officials said they could not discharge him back into the community.
They said he could only be discharged direct to the airport and then flown home, where he must undergo prolonged treatment.
The 24-year-old claims that doctors deemed him fit to travel on May 24, but the airline was dragging its feet.
However, the airline yesterday sent a statement from Doha saying that arrangements were being made to fly Mr Kumar to New Delhi this evening.
It claimed that despite repeated requests by the airline, it only obtained the required documentation from Mr Kumar yesterday.
06/06/08 Begena Pradeep/Gulf Daily News, Bahrain

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Categories: Airports Jun 2008, Foreign Jun 2008