Indian Air Force evacuates Kiwis trapped by earthquake and monsoon in Himalayan valley

The day after New Zealanders Graeme Nye and Helen Chesterfield arrive in the remote Himalayan town of Sangla, they feel some earthquake and monsoon rains start to fall.

It wasn’t a big shake, more like an earthquake, but then the river next to town sprang into action, Chesterfield said.

“Big boulders were rolling down the narrow valley in the center of the village,” Nye said.

Heavy rains began. “Not non-stop but when it rained it was very heavy stuff.”

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The couple, from Invercargill and in their 70s, had been on holiday for two months, planning to enjoy parts of the Himalayas.

“We don’t do trekking anymore. We just go to the villages and enjoy the atmosphere,” said Chesterfield.

They arrived in Sangla, in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, about a week ago.

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Graeme Nye and Helen Chesterfield (left) were among more than 100 visitors evacuated from a remote Himalayan valley after cutting off the road to the area.

But the earthquake and the onset of the monsoon caused rocks to fall, which blocked the road leading to the region in many places.

Electricity was also cut off, and water was scarce, but the residents of the area were not afraid.

“The only source of power was the local SBI bank, which had a generator to power the branch, and every day dozens of local residents sat at the bank charging their phones from every available power outlet, even in the office of the branch managers,” he said.

“It’s amazing how resilient people are…they step in and get things done and fix things.”

Nye and Chesterfield were stuck in the area with five other foreigners and more than 100 Indian tourists.

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Graeme Nye with a soldier who helped evacuate them.

“After six days, the Indian government really got to work, and we were all evacuated by the Indian Air Force in an Apache helicopter to an Indian Army base at the bottom of the valley where they set up a hospital, shelter and food for all the evacuees.”

The Indian government has provided buses to transport evacuees from the area. They reached a rockslide and walked a kilometer along a water maintenance road to reach more buses on the other side of the rocky waterfall.

Those buses were taking evacuees to Shimla or Chandigarh, but they traveled another hour or so that day before it got dark. It was decided that it would be too dangerous to proceed further into the darkness.

“So the Indian government accommodated everyone in the local hotels and provided all the meals,” Nye and Chesterfield said.

“What an incredible commitment and commitment from the Indian Government, Indian Police, Indian Army and Indian Air Force for their incredible efforts to ensure the safety of all.”

Brooke Sabin / ONFLIGHTMODE.COM

Kiwis Brook Sabin and Radha Engling almost gave up on the idea of ​​hiking in the Himalayas, thinking it would be too difficult. Here are 7 reasons they say you should. (First published April 2017)

On Friday, the evacuees were put back on the buses, as Nye and Chesterfield decided to travel to Chandigarh, a city on the plains, where they spent the night of Friday.

“It’s hot, really hot,” said Chesterfield, noting the contrast with temperatures in the Southland.

He said the couple retired 15 years ago and traveled every winter before Covid interrupted their sequence.

The visit to India was their first overseas trip since Covid, and they have five more weeks in the country.

They wouldn’t be able to return to the mountains at that time, so they intended to spend Saturday preparing a new course.

People were suggesting they should go to the nearby state of Rajasthan. “But because it’s a desert country, we can see nothing but extreme heat,” Nye said.

“Everything is different here. Every day is a new adventure. It doesn’t matter where you go.”

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