Devastating floods and landslides caused by Cyclone Ditvaha have wreaked havoc in Sri Lanka. Due to this, more than 200 people have died so far, while some people have gone missing. India has extended a helping hand to flood-hit Sri Lanka. India’s National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel, along with the Indian Air Force (IAF), are assisting Sri Lankan authorities to rescue people on a war footing.
Indian Air Force helicopters have conducted a hybrid rescue operation to rescue stranded passengers from the restricted area. A Garuda commando group was flown down to take them to a pre-determined helipad in Kotmale, from where 24 passengers were airlifted to Colombo. These passengers included Indians, foreign nationals and Sri Lankans. Along with this, three seriously injured were taken to Colombo for immediate medical treatment.
#CycloneDitwah Indian Air Force in #SriLanka
IAF helicopters undertook a hybrid rescue mission to extricate stranded passengers from a restricted zone.
A Garud commando was winched down to guide the group through cross-country route to a pre-briefed helipad at Kotmale, from pic.twitter.com/F6Tzi41MuN— Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) November 30, 2025
India sent relief material
Earlier, five teams (40 soldiers) of Sri Lankan Army personnel were rushed from Diyathalawa Army Camp to the landslide affected Kotmale area to assist in relief operations. A large number of Indian tourists are stranded at Sri Lanka’s Colombo Airport, a helpline number has also been issued for help. Along with this, more than 21 tonnes of relief material has been sent by India to Sri Lanka under Operation Sagar Bandhu.
Mi-17 V5 helicopter deployed in Colombo
The Indian Air Force has also deployed Mi-17 V5 helicopters in Colombo for rapid humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) operations. Indian Air Force said ‘Indian Air Force transport aircraft have been deployed for large-scale evacuation of Indian civilians, and several missions have been planned from Trivandrum and Hindon’ The Air Force said that along with the evacuation, essential relief materials including medical supplies are also being airlifted to assist the affected communities. Two transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force, C-130J and IL-76, on Saturday airlifted about 21 tonnes of relief material to Colombo as part of India’s humanitarian assistance to Sri Lanka under Operation Sagar Bandhu.
Declaration of emergency in the country
According to the latest data released by Sri Lanka’s Disaster Management Center (DMC) at 4 pm on Sunday, 212 people have died and 218 are missing since Thursday. DMC said that 9,98,918 people from 2,73,606 families have been affected by this devastation. Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has declared emergency in the entire country.
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