Sixty-year-old Vanitha was overjoyed at the safe return of her husband C. Devaraj (67) from quake-hit Nepal. He was among 17 tourists, including eight women from the city, who went to Nepal on a five-day tour from April 22 to 26. They reached Coimbatore Airport from New Delhi at 10am on Monday.
Vanitha said that her husband called her around 7am on Saturday. “We came to know about the massive earthquake close to 12.30pm and tried reaching him on his mobile number, but in vain,” she said and added that she got a call from him around 7pm informing her that they were safe
But, families of the tourists — friends and relatives in the late 50s to early 70s — were worried till they reached home safely as a few more quakes and aftershocks hit Nepal from then on.
R. Chinnamani (73) and his wife C. Amirtham (65) of New Siddhapudur were among six couples who were part of the five-day tour to Nepal, arranged by a Chennai-based tour operator. “On the first four days, we visited a few temples and locations in Kathmandu, Pokhara and Jomsom,” Mr. Chinnamani said.
He said that on Saturday, their flight was scheduled at 6.45am, but all flights were cancelled due to bad weather and they had to travel by road for nearly ten hours. “Around 11.40am when we were boarding the bus to Pokhara the entire place jolted. People abandoned the buildings and came on to the road,” Chinnamani told The Hindu .
He added that they reached Pokhara that night and witnessed the second quake at 4am when the hotel room rocked like a cradle. On rushing out of the hotel, they saw many people camping in an open area fearing aftermaths of the earthquake that left hundreds dead on the first day.
The team managed to reach Kathmandu by 5pm on Sunday and enter the crowded international airport, where people from various places thronged to leave Nepal. All flights were delayed and the tourists from Coimbatore got a place in another flight as those who had booked a ticket could not make it in time. They reached Delhi around 1am on Monday.
Their luggage arrived in another flight three hours later, after which they headed for Coimbatore.
