Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has said the IAF will bring back a total of 1,500 Indians stranded in earthquake-hit Nepal.
Highlights
- Over 2200 people were killed and thousands were injured when a devastating earthquake caused widespread destruction in Nepal.
Another Indian Air Force plane brought 237 Indians back to New Delhi from Kathmandu this afternoon, taking the number of passengers evacuated to 783 from
earthquake-hit Nepal since the first plane landed late Saturday night.
"A C-17 Globemaster III of Indian Aor Force landed at Palam at 04.45 pm from Kathmandu with 237 passengers onboard," said Defence Ministry spokesperson Sitanshu Kar. Prior to that, 546 Indians were flown back home.
The first IAF plane to arrive in New Delhi from the Nepalese capital was a C-130J Super Hercules with 55 passengers, including four infants, on board around 10.45 pm on Saturday, followed by a C-17 Globemaster III, a little after midnight with 101 passengers and an infant.
In the early hours today, an IL-76 aircraft brought back 152 passengers, and around 4.45 am, another C-17 Globemaster III returned with 247 Indians. The movement had to be suspended between 1:30 pm and 3:00 pm due to fresh tremors in Nepal.
At 4:45 pm., the latest plane landed with 237 Indian civilians.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said the IAF will bring back a total of 1,500
Indians stranded in earthquake-hit Nepal."We brought back around 500 people yesterday (Saturday) and today (Sunday). We will evacuate 1,500 Indians from Nepal," Mr Parrikar told reporters on the margins of a defence investiture ceremony in New Delhi.
Over 2200 people have died and thousands have been injured when a devastating earthquake and several strong aftershocks caused widespread destruction in Nepal. India was also affected. The quake measured 7.9 on the Richter scale. The epicentre was Nepal's Lamjung district, some 75 km northwest of capital Kathmandu. Over 50 aftershocks were also felt.