Coming home: Relieved Australians wave from a bus after being rescued from Nepal amid coronavirus lockdown
- Nepal imposed a lockdown until April 7 halting all flights due to the coronavirus
- 222 Australian citizens and 28 New Zealanders boarded a flight on Wednesday
- They will be taken to city hotels where they will face a 14-day quarantine
- The flight was organised by the Australian government at $5,000 a ticket
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Hundreds of Australians who were trapped in Nepal amid the coronavirus lockdown have been rescued.
The stranded tourists boarded a chartered flight out of Nepal at Tribhuval International Airport in Kathmandu on Wednesday.
The 222 Australian citizens and 28 New Zealand nationals and permanent residents are scheduled to arrive in Brisbane on Thursday.
Stranded Australian citizens wearing face masks as a preventive measure, wave to journalists as they get ready to move to Tribhuvan International Airport during the ninth day of the nationwide lockdown
A stranded Australian woman sits in a bus on her way to take a rescue flight from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, Wednesday, April 1, 2020
Stranded Australian citizens load their luggage onto a bus on their way to take a rescue flight from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, Wednesday, April 1, 2020
They will be taken to city hotels where they will face a 14-day quarantine upon arrival and be monitored.
The group appeared to be in joyful spirits as they boarded the bus knowing they were on their way home.
The flight was organised by the Australian government at $5,000 a ticket, Sky News reported.
‘This apparently is the only flight that will get back to Australia in whoever knows how long,’ one passenger said.
‘I just had to take what I can get.’
‘We don’t know how long the shutdown is going to last and this is our opportunity to go back home and we’re taking it,’ another passenger said.
A young Australian girl waits inside a bus to go to Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, Wednesday, April 1, 2020
The flight is due to arrive at Brisbane International Airport on Thursday where all passengers will face a 14-day quarantine
A stranded Australian citizen arrives to catch a bus on his way to take a rescue flight from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, Wednesday, April 1, 2020
Nepal is now in lockdown and governments around the world have been working to get their citizens out amid fears the small country’s health system will not cope.
The Nepalese government have halted flights, ordered vehicles off the road and shut down businesses and major markets until April 7 under the lockdown.
Nepal has reported five confirmed cases of coronavirus, while 5,049 Australians have tested positive as of Thursday at 11am.
Twenty-three Australians have so far died of the deadly virus.
Almost 30,000 Australians travel to Nepal every year during March and April for trekking and climbing mountains.
Stranded tourists from Australia and New Zealand boarded a chartered flight out of Nepal Wednesday
Stranded Australian citizens arrive to catch a bus to take a rescue flight from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, Wednesday, April 1, 2020