Bangladesh Air Force has evacuated 49 Bangladeshis including a 25-member Bangladesh football team from the earthquake affected Nepalese capital Kathmandu on Sunday night. On arrival with a BAF transport craft at Base Bangabandhu at Kurmitola, the returned passengers — some of them were holidaymakers and some were travelling for official purpose — said that now they felt relieved as they were fortunate to return.
‘I saw many Bangladeshis, mostly holiday makers, waiting at the Kathmandu airport without food and looking for early tickets,’ said Tahmina Tammin, one of the 49.
She said that she was amongst 15 Bangladeshi with a European boss Paul Stephen in Barabasi located near the Tibetan border when the earthquake impacted.
‘Five of us are evacuated from the remote area by helicopter today [Sunday] but rest 11 could not manage to leave the place as the Nepal government stopped airlift from there after second tremor [on Sunday],’ she added.
Another returnee Tajin Tahmina said that she also felt relieved as she could manage the journey.
Squadron leader Mahbubur Rahman, who was the co-pilot of the evacuation flight, said that he saw hundreds of tents installed around the city and found many buildings damaged.
Earlier, the C120 aircraft piloted by Group Captain AM Awal Hossain carrying 34 defence and foreign ministry officials left Dhaka with relief materials and six medical teams for the neighbouring country.
Dhaka sent medicine, tents, dry food, water and blankets for the affected neighbours.
The air force officials said that they had kept the aircraft ready for further relief work if the government wanted.
The BAF aircraft took hour additional flying due to lack of space in the runway in Kathmandu while a Biman Bangladesh
flight 701 carrying 80 passengers did not get permission to land in the airport after one hour flying from Dhaka.
-With New Age input