Watch: Indian Air Force Deploys Its Transport Aircraft To Airlift Cryogenic Oxygen Containers

The Indian Air Force (IAF) on Thursday (22 April) airlifted three empty cryogenic oxygen containers to Panagarh in West Bengal, from where they will be filled up and supplied to different locations.

The IAF used its C-17 and Il-76 heavy-lift aircraft to transport the containers.

"C-17 and IL-76 aircraft airlifted cryogenic oxygen containers from Air Force Station Hindan to Panagarh for recharging, in support of the fight against Covid-19. Similar airlift tasks are underway across the country," the IAF said in a tweet on Friday (23 April).

The development comes as many hospitals across the country are facing the shortage of medical-grade oxygen amid massive spike in Covid-19 cases.

The IAF also transported Covid testing kit to Leh in the Union territory of Ladakh, reports Hindustan Times.

The IAF has deployed its aircraft for airlifting medical personnel, oxygen containers, oxygen cylinders, trolleys and essential medicines to places where they are needed.

Earlier, doctors and nursing staff have reportedly been taken from Kochi, Mumbai, Vizag, and Bengaluru to set up the DRDO hospital in Delhi. Oxygen containers of the DRDO have also been airlifted from Bengaluru for Covid-19 centres in Delhi.