Indian forces evacuated over 11,000 in quake-hit Nepal

A day after India wound up its relief and rescue operation 'Maitri' in quake-hit Nepal, an official statement said on Friday that the Indian Army and Air Force rescued and evacuated over 11,000 people, while airlifting 780 bodies.

Indian aircraft flew over 2,223 sorties and dropped about 1,700 tonnes of relief material, it said.

The Indian armed forces Rapid Action Medical Teams extended medical assistance to 4,762 injured, including 300 surgery cases, 216 hospital admissions and 4174 OPD cases since the operation started on April 25.

Within four hours of the earthquake that struck Nepal, IAF swung into action and routed one C-130J aircraft, two C-17, one IL-76, airlifting 295 NDRF personnel, 46.5 tonnes of load and five sniffer dogs.

Tonnes of relief material including water, field hospitals, blankets, tents, stretchers, medicines, prepared food, milk, utensils, vegetables, RO Plants, Oxygen Regenerators and communication equipment was air lifted to Nepal.

IAF aircraft that took part in the operation included heavy lifters C-130J Super Hercules, C-17 Globemaster III, IL-76 Gajraj and medium lifter An-32. Besides these aircraft, 8 Medium Lift Helicopters (MLH) which included Mi-17 V5 and Mi-17 were deployed

Large scale relief and rescue operations were carried out by Mi-17 V5 and Mi-17 helicopters from Pokhara and Kathmandu.

These operations were carried out in far flung inaccessible earthquake affected areas that included Lukla, Dhading, Millanchi, Gorkha, Chautara, Charikot, Melum, Aroghat, Dhunche, Trishuli, Ramechhap, Barpak, Narayan Chor, Namchi Bazar, Tatopani, Lamabagar and other remote villages.

The Engineer Task Force (ETF) of the Indian Army cleared and constructed tracks in difficult and inaccessible areas to facilitate the relief work in Barpak, Gorkha and Kathmandu.

The ETF cleared over 16 km of tracks, over 11,477 cubic meters of debris, helped to reconstruct 55 houses/shelters and recovered several bodies.

Army aviation pilots flew continuously to evacuate stranded and injured people, provide relief material and ferried 567 Nepalese Army troops to inaccessible areas to carry out relief work.

The army provided 10,000 blankets, 1000 tents and 1000 tarpaulin/plastic sheets.

The Indian Army's Everest Expedition team which was located at the Everest Base Camp when the earthquake struck did yeoman service to rescue a number of mountaineers who were affected by an avalanche that was triggered due to the quake.

They helped in recovering 18 bodies and the team doctor rendered critical medical aid to several mountaineers before they were evacuated by air.

The earthquake that hit Nepal on April 25 left over 8,800 people dead and thousands more injured besides causing massive damage to property.

Several after shocks continued to shake Nepal after that and another massive earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale hit Nepal on May 12, following which the operations were once again intensified.