Over 1330 tourists and guides rescued

Kathmandu: Over 1,330 foreign tourists and Nepali tourist guides left stranded at several destinations due to a weeklong nationwide lockdown against the coronavirus have been rescued.

As per the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) sources, such a number of tourists were rescued from different 19 touristic destinations including Pokhara, Lukla, Taplejung, Jomsom, Annapurna Base Camp, Muktinath, Langtang, Manaslu, Gorkha, Lete, Besisahar, Kande, Sankhuwasabha, Jhapa, Beni, and Jhinudanda.

They were rescued via chartered flights. Most rescues were from Lukla in Solukhumbu district. According to the trekking Agencies Association of Nepal (TAAN), 85 tourist guides were airlifted to Kathmandu from the Lukla region on Sunday and Monday.

The rescue flights were operated in cooperation with the NTB. As said by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), Lukla witnessed five rescue flights alone this morning.

Different airline companies, including Nepal Airlines Corporation (one), Sita Air (two) and Summit Air (two) had operated flights to bring 70 foreign tourists and their guides back to Kathmandu on Monday.

Meanwhile, the Nepal Army has been granted permission to operate rescue flights to Dhangadhi, Surkhet,and Biratnagar, said CAAN spokesperson Raj Kumar Chhetri.

All pictures from Deepak Mahat’s Facebook profile.