Nepal rescues over 1200 tourists as crona lockdown continues

Authorities here have rescued over 12,00 tourists, who were stranded in various parts of the Hmalayan country after a nationwide lockdown was imposed last week to contain the COVID-19 spread which has infected five people in Nepal so far.

A total of 1255 stranded tourists have been evacuated from 19 destinations across the country, according to the data compiled by the Nepal Tourism Board.

"We were successful in bringing 158 people stranded in Lukla, including international and domestic tourists, as well as Nepali tour guides and porters. Fifty-six of them were evacuated by Tara Air, 51 by Summit Air while the other 51 by Sita Air on Sunday. The chartered flights were operated in coordination with the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal(CAAN), the US Embassy, British Embassy, Embassy of Russia, and local government bodies," Dhananjay Regmi, Executive Chief of the Crisis Communication Unit of Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), told ANI.

"As of March 29, the Board has been successful in rescuing a total of 1,255 travelers within the country. NTB has given top priority in following the health and safety guidelines set by the government during all rescue operations," Regmi added.

The NTB carried out its rescue operation at Lukla, Pokhara, Taplejung, Jomsom, Muktinath, Langtang, Manaslu, Gorkha, Lete, Beshisahar, Kande, Sankhuwasahba, Jhapa, Beni and Jhinudanda.

The Board estimated that about 10 thousand tourists were stranded in various parts of the country.

A total of 913 tourists have been flown back to their respective nations following initiation by the NTB and the diplomatic missions of various nations in Nepal.

Chartered flights operated by France and Germany took back its citizens from the Himalayan nation owing to the situation created by the lockdown.

Nepal's government announced earlier this month the spring climbing season for all the Himalayan peaks in the country, including the world's highest Mount Everest, would also be canceled due to coronavirus.