KATHMANDU, Feb 15: One hundred and seventy-five Nepali nationals from six different cities across Hubei Province of China departed to Kathmandu from Wuhan on a chartered Nepal Airlines flight late Saturday.
As per the decision of the Nepal government, the Nepali nationals have been evacuated and sent to home from various Chinese cities including Wuhan, the epicenter of the deadly coronavirus.
Of the 175 nationals, 170 are students, 1 employee, 2 visitors, and 2 children, according to Embassy of Nepal in Beijing. The flight departed for Nepal at 00:52 AM (local time) and is scheduled arrive at Tribhuvan International Airport at around 04:00 AM (loal time), according to a press release issued by the embassy.
NAC operating three chartered flights to Japan
The embassy arranged six separate vehicles to bring the Nepali nationals from different cities of Hubei Province to the airport.
"The numbers of Nepali nationals from the six cities who boarded the flight are as follows: Wuhan -55, Enshi - 26, Shiyan - 29, Yichang -8, Jingmen -9, and Jingzhou – 48. Of them, 134 are male and 41 are female. Necessary procedures including temperature checks were completed before boarding the plane," the embassy stated.
Upon arrival in Nepal, they will be kept in quarantine for at least 14 days. "Out of the 185 applicants, four later decided to stay back in China whereas six could not board the plane due to medical reasons," the embassy said.
The six Nepalis barred from taking evacuation flight to Kathmandu will be taken to their respective universities and put under quarantine until they recover, officials said.
One hundred thousand pieces of face masks donated by the Government of Nepal to the Chinese Government through the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu were brought to Wuhan on the same flight, and were handed over to Hubei Charity Federation at the airport, the embassy said.
In its press release, the embassy has expressed its sincere thanks to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China for its support and co-operation in facilitating the process of sending back the Nepali nationals.
The embassy also expressed its profound thanks to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), Foreign Affairs Office (FAO) of the Hubei Provincial People’s Government of China, the concerned Universities of Hubei Province, Wuhan Tianhe International Airport, and the local transport authorities of Hubei for their valuable support and co-operation extended to the embassy in the process.
