15 Indians Stranded Near Mount Everest, Sushma Swaraj Comes To Their Aid

New Delhi: Close to 15 Indians are reportedly stranded in a region in Nepal, considered the gateway to the Everest region. Foreign minister Sushma Swaraj has intervened after some of the Indians sought her help on Twitter. The Indian embassy in Nepal said flights from Lukla, where there is a small mountain airstrip, are cancelled due to bad weather.

Amit Thadani, one of the Indians stranded tweeted to Sushma Swaraj and her junior minister VK Singh, "We are about 15 Indians stranded in Lukla, Nepal waiting for evacuation. Local embassy contacted but no resolution yet." Ms Swaraj responded last evening, tagging the Twitter handle of the Indian embassy in Kathmandu and asked Indian envoy Manjeev Singh Puri to intervene. 

Mr Thadani, in his tweet to Ms Swaraj, said the Indians have been stranded for the last two days "with copter company looters refusing to evacuate us to KTM unless we pay 600 dollars per head". He said they paid $200 per person for a helicopter ride from Kathmandu to Lukla.

 

Cc @SushmaSwaraj @Gen_VKSingh can you please help? We are about 15 Indians stranded in Lukla, Nepal waiting for evacuation. Local embassy contacted but no resolution yet. https://t.co/hZuXr28nNa

— Amit Thadhani (@amitsurg) May 26, 2018

The embassy said the mission is in touch with the Indians. "Flights from Lukla are cancelled due to bad weather. We are trying to get them evacuated by helicopter," the Indian embassy tweeted.

 

Manjeev - Pls see this. @IndiaInNepal https://t.co/n36LJujmvW

— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) May 26, 2018

Lukla airport, often called the most dangerous airport in the world, is the main gateway to the Everest region and sees thousands of trekkers and climbers pass through it each year. Earlier this month, a Gurgaon-based father-daughter duo became the first such combination from India to scale the Everest.