Lebanese in Quake-Struck Nepal Call on Foreign Ministry to Evacuate them

A number of Lebanese nationals in Nepal have pleaded with Lebanese authorities to help them evacuate the country following Saturday's destructive earthquake, reported al-Jadeed television on Sunday.

They urged the Foreign Ministry to carry out the necessary efforts to ensure their safe return to Lebanon.

They assured the television station that they are doing well.

They are currently staying at a garage at Nepal airport.

The Foreign Ministry later announced that three Lebanese nationals are stranded at Kathmandu airport awaiting their evacuation after their flight was delayed due to an emergency, said Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5).

No Lebanese were killed or wounded in the earthquake, it added.

Nepal's international airport briefly shutdown on Sunday when a powerful aftershock hit Kathmandu, forcing planes to turn around midflight, officials and reports said.

Tribhuvan International Airport general manager Birendra Prasad Shrestha said the runway had reopened after being closed for about an hour.

"The airport is open and functioning. We had closed the runway for an hour after the quake this afternoon, but we have resumed services," Shrestha told AFP.

At least 2,000 people were killed in Saturday's earthquake in the capital Kathmandu.

Terrified residents were woken on Sunday by fresh aftershocks in the worst disaster to hit the impoverished Himalayan nation in more than 80 years, with many forced to spend the night trying to sleep out on the streets and open ground in tents.

M.T.