KATHMANDU/NEW DELHI, July 3 – Over 1,000 Indian pilgrims have been stranded in Simikot and Hilsa areas near the Nepal-China border due to incessant rain and bad weather, the Indian Embassy in Nepal said on Tuesday.
The embassy said 525 Indian pilgrims have been stranded in Simikot and 550 in Hilsa areas. The pilgrims were on their way to a sacred place in China’s Tibet Autonomous Region.
“As of Jul 3rd morning, the weather situation remains inclement and there is very little chance of operating evacuation flights,” the embassy said in a statement, adding that it has placed its representatives in Nepalganj and Simikot and all the stranded pilgrims are in touch with the embassy.
Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj said, “We have requested Government of Nepal for army helicopters to evacuate stranded Indian nationals.”
She listed a series of contact numbers on her twitter page for the pilgrims and their relatives to get information. Xinhua
