Till Tuesday evening, 3,754 Chinese nationals stuck in Nepal had been sent back to China via Chinese flights, said Chinese ambassador on Wednesday.[Special coverage]
Wu Chuntai, Chinese ambassador to Nepal, told Xinhua that the Chinese passengers were sent back home with 30 flights operated by for major Chinese airlines since the devastating earthquake last Saturday.
A 7.9-maganitude earthquake jolted Nepal, leaving over 5,000 dead and another thousands of people injured. The fatal disaster also caused aftershocks and massive havoc across the country.
Due to its unique landscape and ancient culture, Nepal receives hundreds of thousands Chinese tourists every year, making China the second largest tourist generating country for the mountainous country.
The limited capacity of Kathmandu international airport is also one of the reasons for the delay of passengers' returning home, said Wu.
Shortly after the quake, military and civilian flights carrying relief supplies and rescue personnel rushed to Kathmandu, leaving the city's one-runway airport heavily overloaded. Flights have to be hovering for hours over the airport before landing.
