New Delhi: India has assisted in the evacuation of 170 nationals of 15 countries, including 71 of Spain, from quake-hit Nepal.
Confirming the news, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup wrote on Twitter: "Friends in need. India assisted in evacuation from Nepal of 170 nationals from 15 countries via commercial & IAF aircraft."
Friends in need. India assisted in evacn from Nepal of 170 nationals from 15 countries via commercial & IAF aircraft pic.twitter.com/SZ6kc6FETC
— Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) April 28, 2015
Earlier, Swarup had tweeted about a 24 hour Control Room for queries regarding the Nepal earthquake.
MEA opens 24 hour Control Room for queries regarding tragic #NepalEarthquake. Numbers: +91 11 2301 2113 +91 11 2301 4104 +91 11 2301 7905
— Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) April 25, 2015
Besides Spain, India has pulled out 33 Polish nationals, 20 Czechs, 10 US nationals, eight Germans, five Ukrainians and French each and four Brazilians and Tanzanians each among others.
Meanwhile, at least 4,352 bodies have been recovered so far from the debris in Nepal.
There is an acute shortage of food, water, electricity and medicines in Nepal. Locals in Kathmandu and other adjoining areas are spending their nights out in the open over fears of another earthquake.
Hundreds of people are still trapped under tonnes of rubble in Kathmandu and some of the worst-affected remote mountainous areas in the quake-ravaged country.
India is doing everything possible to maximise the relief and minimise the tribulations faced by the neighbouring nation.
More than 700 disaster relief experts drawn from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed by India, which has mounted massive relief operations as part of 'Operation Maitri'. Relief material weighing 8,200 kilograms were distributed by choppers and the Indian Air Force.
India has also sent a team of senior officials from the ministries of Home, Defence, External Affairs and National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to co-ordinate the rescue and relief operations. The team is monitoring the evacuation of stranded Indians in Nepal. Nearly 5,400 Indians have been brought back so far.
The calamity, one of the worst in over 80 years in Nepal, was followed by 55 aftershocks.
(With Agency inputs)
