Hyderabad: Following Saturday’s devastating earthquake, 65 people from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have been rescued from Nepal by the Indian Air Force and National Disaster Response Force joint mission, while 300 more are still stranded in Kathmandu and other districts of the country.
The tourists and pilgrims were ferried in four Indian Air Force flights from Kathmandu to New Delhi between Saturday midnight and Sunday night.
Fifty-four of the rescued reached Rajiv Gandhi International Airport by Sunday night and the rest will be reaching by Monday, said officials. While 19 of them are from East Godavari, Vijayawada and other districts of AP, 35 are from Hyderabad and other districts.
Officials from AP Bhavan, Delhi said that the rescued people had started reaching the capital by 3 am on Sunday; all of them were put up at AP Bhavan.
“All arrangements were made here for Telugu speaking people. They were given food, and air tickets to Hyderabad were provided,” said an official.
The officials added that none of the rescued was injured in the earthquake. “There are pilgrims, tourists, and a few workers. Many are above 50 years old, however, all
of them are healthy,” said an official from AP Bhavan.
He added that more people had called from Nepal, seeking help, and they had informed about the same to the Indian rescue forces.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Mr Chandrababu Naidu has instructed Minister of State Y.S. Chowdary and AP special representative in Delhi, Mr K. Ramamohan Rao, to ensure that people from the state are put on flights immediately, based on their destinations.
Andhra Pradesh Bhavan officials are coordinating with the Nepal embassy and the Ministry of External Affairs, India, an official release from Andhra Pradesh government said. More rescued people from Nepal will be put on flights to their respective destinations on Monday, officials added.
For any assistance, people can call control rooms in New Delhi at 011-23782388 or in Hyderabad at 040-23456005
People can also write on the Twitter handle: <https://twitter.com/AndhraPradeshCM> or write in the AP government’s Facebook page.
