Secretary of Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Kedar Bahadur Adhikari said round 1116 stranded tourists rescued till this morning from different parts.

Secretary Adhikari tweeted that more than 900 gone to their home country till yesterday. “Today onward rescue of stranded tourists inside country shall coordinate by Nepal Tourism Board directly. So anyone needing help can contact crisis cell in NTB.”

He said that free riding arranged for evacuated foreigners from airport to hotel by Nepal Tourism Board. We are help to there. Rescue flight arranged for stranded foreigners inside country. He also tweeted,” Contact MoFA for further detail. Nepal Tourism Board’s rescue cell is also helping in this regard.”

According to Nepal Tourism Board more than 1,330 foreign tourists and Nepali tourist guides left stranded at several destinations due to a week-long nationwide lockdown against the coronavirus have been rescued.

Those tourists were rescued from different 19 touristic destinations including Pokhara, Lukla, Taplejung, Jomsom, Annapurna Base Camp, Muktinath, Langtang, Manaslu, Gorkha, Lete, Besisahar, Kande, Sankhuwasabha, Jhapa, Beni and Jhinudanda. They were rescued via chartered flights. Most rescues were from Lukla in Solukhumbu district.

As said by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), Lukla witnessed five rescue flights alone this morning. Different airlines companies, including Nepal Airlines Corporation (one), Sita Air (two) and Summit Air (two) had operated flights to bring 70 foreign tourists and their guides back to Kathmandu today. Meanwhile, the Nepal Army has been granted permission to make rescue flights to Dhangadhi, Surkhet and Biratnagar, said CAAN spokesperson Raj Kumar Chhetri.