Odisha Workers Recount Horror After Escaping War-Torn Iraq

Bhubaneswar: Four Indians workers, who were flown out of Iraq as the country was hit by the worst violence it has seen in a decade, have said they will not be returning to the war-torn country.

Four plumbers from Odisha, who were working in city of Karbala, returned safely along with 137 others, home after being flown in by the Indian government.

The workers today recounted their ordeal and how they escaped from Karbala, a holy place for Shia Muslims and one of the major flashpoints of the civil war. 

The 137 workers from Odisha, Punjab, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, and Haryana had been working on construction site of a private hospital in Karbala.

"Of them, four are from Kendrapara and were employed as plumbers," said Madan Mohan Mallick, a native of Nadini Nagar near Pattamundai.

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"Our employers were warm and friendly. They had assured us that Karbala being a holy place would not be hit by violence," he said, adding, but trouble started on July 2.

"Bombardment, air strikes and gunfights were taking place about a kilometre from our base camp. We could feel that death and destruction were not far away," he said.

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Mallick, who finally got home three days back, said he feared they would be victim to a stray missile.

"There was prompt response from Indian Embassy for our evacuation. On July 8, Embassy took 90 people including us to the airport. We were escorted by armed Iraqi military men. We were flown to Baghdad airport on the same day," said Akshya Beura from Mohu village.

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"We have been getting good salary. But we have got a new life. We will never go back there. We are no more in a mood to risk our lives again," Beura said.