BENGALURU: Yemeni war victims seeking affordable and quality healthcare have found help here. Over the past month, people on the bustling Kammanahalli Main Road have spotted saw many foreigners with maimed limbs in the locality. They were civilians from Yemen, which had plunged into civil war in 2015 when Iran-backed Houthi rebels seized control over capital Sana’a and other parts of the country, and Saudi Arabia-led coalition forces retaliated in support of president Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi.Thousands of civilians lost their lives and several were crippled by incessant shelling and landmines. At least 40 men from Tiaz have arrived in Bengaluru. Most were hit by landmines in their farmlands last year. While the oldest is a 45-year-old man and the youngest is 19, most of them are students in their twenties. Some are farmers and there is a plumber too. They all arrived here three weeks ago.“I was on my way to school and stepped on a landmine. My left leg had to be amputated till the knee,” said Abdul Hakeem, a 45-year-old Arabic teacher at a Tiaz school.Expensive healthcare in Yemen compounded the victims’ woes. They were fitted with prosthetic limbs , but that didn’t really help them get back on their feet. When they heard about Bengaluru’s relatively cheaper healthcare from Rian Abdulla, 21, a student from Tiaz, who is doing his BCA at HBK Degree College in Nagawara, they jumped at the chance. Abdulla, who has been staying in Bengaluru for two years, is friend, guide and interpreter for the victims who speak only Arabic. They stay in a private lodge which was a hospital earlier. The owner charges Rs 1,500 per room to be shared by four persons and has given a discount of Rs 500 on humanitarian grounds.“I think Bengaluru is best suited for these people. And they’re happy to be here,” said Abdulla, who said philanthropists and the public of Tiaz have chipped in with funds for travel and stay. Otto Bock Healthcare, a German-based organisation for war victims and manufacturer of artificial limbs, is readying prosthetic legs and arms for them. “All of them had been treated at Tiaz, but they were not comfortable with them,” said Sudarshan PR, branch manager, Otto Bock facility in Koramanagala. “We’ve taken measurements and asked our manufacturing unit in Germany to make prosthetic limbs.”While some locals are apprehensive of the war victims staying on as illegal immigrants, police said they’re monitoring the group. Sudarshan said they have a three-month visa and will return as soon as they are fitted with prosthetic limbs, which could happen next week.

Stay updated with all the Bangalore Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.