A Bahrain mother and her two-year-old baby had to spend 26 hours on board an Indian warship after they were rescued from war-torn Yemen.

Indian Neha Mistry, who is married to 32-year-old Bahraini Shehab Samander, was trapped in Ta'izz with her Bahraini toddler, Mais, as a Saudi-led military operation was launched against Houthi militias, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN),o your sister publication.

The pair were among 232 foreigners from 26 countries who were rescued by the Indian Navy from Hodeida city and were taken to Djibouti by ship, before flying to Kochi in India.

They arrived in Mumbai yesterday (April 8) where Samander was waiting for them, said the 28-year-old housewife, who was visiting her brother in Yemen.

"There were more than 400 people on board the big ship, and the crew members were very kind and helpful," Mistry told the GDN from Mumbai.

"We went to Yemen on March 5 and it was all calm when we reached there, and we were planning to return on April 2.

"When war broke out we tried to return but airports were closed, so we requested for help through the Indian Embassy in Sana'a and my brother dropped me to Hodeida, which was a six-hour journey by car from Ta'izz.

"From there we travelled to Djibouti in an Indian Navy ship and then flew down to Kochi airport, where my daughter was given a three-day visa.

"Then we finally flew to Mumbai, where we joined my husband who had come down from Bahrain to see us.

"It was tiring and long, but it is finally over and I thank God it is over and we are safe and soon heading back to Bahrain."

She said there were no other Bahrainis on board the ship, but she encountered many Arab nationals.

Indian Embassy first secretary Ram Singh told the GDN Indian officials were contacted after Samander approached the mission to rescue his family.

Indian officials yesterday confirmed that almost all the estimated 4,000 Indians in Yemen were evacuated safely.

The Bahrain Embassy in India did not comment when contacted by the GDN yesterday, while Foreign Ministry officials could not be reached.

Operation Decisive Storm was launched on March 26 against Houthi militias, Iran-allied fighters who have taken over large areas of Yemen.

The first boatloads of emergency medical aid arrived at the south Yemeni port city of Aden yesterday, which aid workers say faces a humanitarian catastrophe.

Residents saw a dozen bodies strewn on the streets and said several buildings were burnt or demolished by rocket fire, and mosques broadcast appeals for jihad against the Houthis. - TradeArabia News Service