400 Indian medical students sent home from Kathmandu

About 400 Indian students enrolled with the College of Medical Sciences at Bharatpur in Nepal's Chitwan district were put on buses to be sent home to Gorakhpur in India following Saturday's devastating quake and continuing atershocks, a top official of the college said.

Nagender Pampati, an Indian who runs the college, said a two-week holiday. Most of the students are from Andhra Pradesh.

Pampati said the college had arranged for the students to be put on trains in Gorakhpur to their home towns in Andhra Pradesh and elsewhere. "In such a situation we thought it was our responsibility to ensure that the students reached their homes safe."

The students had to spend Saturday night out in the open away from their hostels and near a temple on the college campus. In the morning buses were arranged to take them to Gorakhpur. No one in the college was injured and there was no damage to the college buildings, Pampati said.

He said they will assess the situation arising out of the devastating earthquake before deciding on re-opening the college.