KATHMANDU: An estimated 10,000 tourists are stranded in various parts of Nepal after the country announced a lockdown to curb the Covid-19 oubreak.
Some were on trekking expeditions in the mountains when Nepal announced the lockdown and suspended all domestic and international flights.
There was an influx of tourists in Nepal at this time of the year because of the spring trekking season and Visit Nepal Year 2020.
According to a CNN report, hundreds of trekkers are stranded on high-altitude trekking trails.
There are about 500 foreign trekkers on at least four trekking routes unable to return due to the lockdown that started on Tuesday, which will last for a week, said Shradha Shrestha, a spokesman for the Nepal Tourism Board.
It is believed that about 120 foreign trekkers and climbers were stuck in Lukla town near Mount Everest.
Another 200 tourists and climbers were stranded along the Mount Everest Base Camp route, the Nepali Times reported.
“We are working with multiple government agencies to rescue the trekkers and bring them to Kathmandu so that we can coordinate with the embassies to fly them back home,” said Shrestha.
“Several embassies, like the German and French ones, are already planning to send chartered flights to some of these areas to rescue the trekkers.”
The tourism board and Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal are coordinating the flights to evacuate the tourists.
The tourism board launched a website to make it easier for the stranded trekkers to reach out to the authorities.
The government announced earlier this month that the spring climbing season for all the Himalayan peaks in the country, including the world’s highest Mount Everest, would be cancelled due to the pandemic.
Tourism Secretary Kedar Bahadur Adhikari said climbing permits for Mount Everest had been cancelled until the end of next month.
The decision came at the start of this year’s closely watched climbing season, which was already under way amid concerns of overcrowding on Earth’s highest peak.
Permits to climb Mount Everest cost about US$11,000.
The decision was mainly due to the fact that breathing is hampered by the extreme altitudes on the mountain, so an outbreak of the coronavirus — which often causes respiratory problems — could have devastating effects at the Mount Everest camp.
The Health Ministry had confirmed three cases of Covid-19.