Gangtok, June 6 -- Braving the prevailing adverse weather conditions, the Indian armed forces on Friday safely airlifted 17 stranded tourists from north Sikkim's last village Chaten, to the Pakyong greenfield airport, some 30 km east of Gangtok, official sources said.
The MI-02 helicopter successfully carried out the first evacuation of the day, airlifting 17 tourists, both men and children, who were stuck at Chaten since May 29 when massive landslides followed by cloudbursts and torrents cut off the last village, about 130 km north of Pakyong.
"The same helicopter has been deployed again to evacuate the remaining stranded persons," a government communique said. "Evacuation operations will continue depending on weather conditions and logi...