47 Telangana, Andhra tourists return from Nepal

At least 47 tourists and pilgrims from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, who were visiting Nepal when it was struck by an earthquake, have returned home, officials said on Sunday.

As many as 28 people from Hyderabad and 19 from Vijayawada were among the Indians evacuated since Saturday night, they said.

The evacuated people have landed in Delhi and will be reaching Hyderabad on Sunday evening.

Andhra Pradesh's Minister for NRI Affairs P. Raghunath Reddy will receive them at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport here.

These 47 were among 380 people from the two states stranded in Nepal.

The governments of the two states said they were making all efforts to bring all people home safely.

The Andhra government said in a statement that the control room it set up at Andhra Pradesh Bhavan in New Delhi assisted 33 references Saturday night. The bhavan has made all arrangements to provide shelter, food and assistance to Telugu people rescued from Nepal.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu instructed union Minister Y.S. Chowdary and the state's Special Representative in Delhi K. Ramamohan Rao to ensure that Telugu people are put on flights immediately for their respective destinations.

The Andhra Pradesh Bhavan officials are coordinating with the Nepal embassy and the ministry of external affairs.

For any assistance, people can call control rooms in New Delhi at 011-23782388 or in Hyderabad at 040-23456005.