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British tourists stranded in Nepal say they have had to turn to the embassies of other European countries for help, after the British government failed to rescue them. Maria Terziska, who arrived back in the UK yesterday on a French rescue flight, said, “I have never felt so helpless in my life… It was a really scary situation and it felt like the British embassy did not care about anyone or anything.” Terziska said she was trekking in the Everest region when she heard that the Foreign Office was advising British nationals to return home.
“The British embassy did nothing to get us back to Kathmandu, it was the Nepali tourism authorities and our tour guide who got us back,” she said. In Kathmandu, Terziska said she was unable to get any information about flights from the embassy, so she turned to the French for help.
Another British trekker, Scott Hopkinson, managed to return to the UK on a German rescue flight. “I felt so stressed. There was no clarity from the British embassy. It was giving out conflicting information,” said Hopkinson.
The British embassy in Kathmandu announced today that rescue flights for British nationals would be leaving on Wednesday and Friday, almost two weeks after German and French tourists began to be evacuated. A seat on the flights arranged by the British embassy costs £800, twice the cost of the French rescue flight. Foreign secretary Dominic Raab announced last week that the government had allocated £75million for rescue flights to repatriate British citizens stranded abroad by the coronavirus.
On March 22, the Nepal government banned all international flights. The announcement came at the height of the tourist season when tens of thousands of visitors arrive to trek and climb in the Himalayas. Two days later the government announced a lockdown, leaving many trekkers trapped in remote regions, struggling to return the capital Kathmandu, which has the country’s only international airport.
The Foreign Office has been approached for comment.
British tourists stranded in Nepal say they have had to turn to the embassies of other European countries for help, after the British government failed to rescue them. Maria Terziska, who arrived back in the UK yesterday on a French rescue flight, said, “I have never felt so helpless in my life… It was a really scary situation and it felt like the British embassy did not care about anyone or anything.” Terziska said she was trekking in the Everest region when she heard that the Foreign Office was advising British nationals to return home.
“The British embassy did nothing to get us back to Kathmandu, it was the Nepali tourism authorities and our tour guide who got us back,” she said. In Kathmandu, Terziska said she was unable to get any information about flights from the embassy, so she turned to the French for help.
Another British trekker, Scott Hopkinson, managed to return to the UK on a German rescue flight. “I felt so stressed. There was no clarity from the British embassy. It was giving out conflicting information,” said Hopkinson.
The British embassy in Kathmandu announced today that rescue flights for British nationals would be leaving on Wednesday and Friday, almost two weeks after German and French tourists began to be evacuated. A seat on the flights arranged by the British embassy costs £800, twice the cost of the French rescue flight. Foreign secretary Dominic Raab announced last week that the government had allocated £75million for rescue flights to repatriate British citizens stranded abroad by the coronavirus.
On March 22, the Nepal government banned all international flights. The announcement came at the height of the tourist season when tens of thousands of visitors arrive to trek and climb in the Himalayas. Two days later the government announced a lockdown, leaving many trekkers trapped in remote regions, struggling to return the capital Kathmandu, which has the country’s only international airport.
The Foreign Office has been approached for comment.
