A 51-year-old Indian-Australian man has died in India from COVID-19.
Sydney-based Mr Sunil Khanna travelled to visit his elderly parents before becoming sick with the virus.
Mr Khanna was planning on bringing his aged parents to Australia but unfortunately his whole family contracted the COVID virus.
Mr Khanna’s brother Mr Sanjay Khanna, who lives in Kellyville in Sydney’s west, told SMH:
“I tried all my contacts to get help, trying to get an ambulance for my brother – I called 28 ambulances. Finally when I was able to get a bed for my brother on the 29th [of April]. But it had just reached the hospital and he suffered a cardiac pulmonary arrest and died.”
Syfney-based migration agent and President of the Little India Harris Park Business Association, Mr Sanjay Deshwal, told ABC:
“Both the mother and father had new [Indian] passports, and Sunil himself was trying to get back this June. The plan was, if everything was alright, they’d all get back to Australia.”
During his visit to Shiva Vishnu Temple in Melbourne today the Prime Minister of Australia Scott Morrison confirmed to the gathering that number of Indian-Australians wanting to return home from India are growing day-by-day.
“Our consular staff are providing support right now to roughly 11,000 Australians who are registered to return to Australia, including 970 who we know are particularly vulnerable.”
This also includes a number of children whose parents or legal guardians are in Australia.
