Headlines
Air force to evacuate 1,500 from Nepal on Sunday
New Delhi, April 26
The Indian Air Force will
bring back 1,500 stranded Indians from thee earthquake-hit Nepal on
Sunday, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said.
"We brought back
around 500 people yesterday (Saturday), today (Sunday) we will be
evacuating 1,500 Indians from Nepal," Parrikar told reporters on the
sidelines of defence investiture ceremony here.
The minister said the air force is carrying relief material that includes ready to eat food, tents, water and medicines.
Along with other aircrafts, 10 helicopters will fly to Nepal, including small choppers to ease landing at difficult places.New Delhi, April 26
Indian Air Force planes
have fetched around 546 of its citizens, including several infants, back
from quake-hit Kathmandu since late Saturday with more sorties firmed
up during Sunday, officials here said.
The first Indian Air Force
plan to arrive from the Nepalese capital was a C-130J Super Hercules
with 55 passengers, including fur infants, on board at around 10.45
p.m., followed by a C-17 Globemaster III, a little after midnight with
101 passengers and an infant.
In the early hours of Sunday, an
IL-76 aircraft brought back 152 passengers. And at around 4.45 a.m.,
another C-17 Globemaster III returned with 247 Indians.
The
Indian defence forces, meanwhile decided to step up their search, rescue
and humanitarian efforts in Nepal on Sunday, which was hit by a
devastating earthquake just before noon on Saturday, leaving behind a
trail of death and destruction.
"Ten flights are planned for
Kathmandu today. These would be airlifting army forward hospitals,
engineering task forces, water, food, National Disaster Response Force
teams, medical personnel and equipment, blankets and tents," said
Sitanshu Kar, the spokesperson for the defence ministry.
Sunday's
sorties will also involve choppers. Kar said six MI helicopters
stationed at Gorakhpur, in north-west Uttar Pradesh, and another six at
various places were on standby to be pressed into service.
The
first to fly out to Kathmandu was a light MI chopper, followed by five
MI-17 helicopters from Gorakhpur. "India will also be augmenting rescue
efforts by pressing into service four more helicopters, including two
Indian Air Force ALH Dhruvs later in the day," Kar said.
Over
1,500 people were killed and thousands were injured when a massive
earthquake -- lasting about 20 frightening seconds -- 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.