New Delhi : After ferrying 546 Indian citizens back to India from Kathmandu, Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel on Sunday carried out sorties to evacuate people, mostly locals, from the areas worst affected by the earthquake the day before, officials said.
In support of the Nepalese Army, the IAF has rescued 171 people in 21 sorties, Sitanshu Kar, the spokesperson for the defence ministry here, said. The IAF has deployed 4 MI-17-V5 and 2-MI-17 choppers, he added.
“The IAF has carried out aerial recce in support of the Nepalese government under the guidance of the Nepalese Army covering the worst-affected districts of Gorkha, Dhading, Rasuwa, Sindhupalchok, Kavrepalanchok and Dolakha,” Kar said.
“Some more sorties are underway. The plan is to drop relief supplies in the worst-affected valleys in case landing is not possible. The IAF helicopters are flying almost non-stop since this morning,” the spokesperson added.
“The Nepalese Army pilots are also flying on board Indian helicopters to familiarise the Indian pilots with the terrain,” he said.
Till Sunday morning the IAF planes had fetched 546 Indian citizens, including several infants, back from quake-hit Nepal. The operations had to be stalled between 1:30 p.m. and 4:00 p.m., since the Kathmandu airport was shut temporarily due to fresh tremors.
The first IAF plane to arrive here from the Nepalese capital was a C-130J Super Hercules with 55 passengers, including four infants, on board around 10.45 p.m. on Saturday, 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.
