MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The Russian Emergencies Ministry sent a plane to Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, to evacuate over 40 Russian citizens wishing to leave the country following the recent devastating earthquake, a spokesperson for the ministry said Friday.
On April 25, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake occurred 50 miles northwest of Nepal's capital Kathmandu, causing severe damage to infrastructure and claiming lives of over 6,000 people, according to UN estimates.
"At 08:00 p.m. Moscow time [16:00 GMT] An-148 jet aircraft flew from the Ramenskoye Airport near Moscow to evacuate 40 Russian citizens from Nepal," the spokesperson stated.
The Russian Emergencies Ministry and Russia's Embassy in Nepal organized the work on processing appeals from citizens who needed evacuation to Russia.
"In total, there have been 42 appeals from the Russian citizens, wishing to leave Nepal," the spokesperson specified.
On Wednesday, two Russian planes with about 100 rescuers and medical staff aboard evacuated 128 people, including 91 Russian citizens from the earthquake-hit country.
