Katmandu, July 4: Nearly 158 pilgrims of Kailash Mansarovar, who were stranded in mountainous region in Nepal near Tibet due to bad weather weather conditions, have been rescued. A special helicopter on Wednesday brought the mortal remains of two Indian pilgrims to Kathmandu and Nepalganj.

A total of 158 pilgrims have been rescued from Simikot and 250 pilgrims brought to Simikot from Hilsa. Reports inform that out of the stranded Indians, 290 are from Karnataka. On Tuesday, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said about 525 pilgrims are stranded in Simikot, 550 in Hilsa and another 500 are stuck in Tibet side.

About 1,500 Indian pilgrims have been stranded in mountainous region in Nepal and rescue operations to evacuate them are underway. On Tuesday, two commercial flights landed at Simikot, 423 km from capital Kathmandu to rescue pilgrims stranded in the area. About seven flights operated from Simikot to Nepalganj and about 104 Indian pilgrims were evacuated on Tuesday.

The pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar in Tibetan region of China is considered holy by Hindus, Buddhists and Jains. Reports inform that the Indian Embassy in Nepal have asked all tour operators to try and hold pilgrims back in Tibet side as far as possible since the medical and civic facilities on Nepal side are inadequate.

On Tuesday, Swaraj said India has requested the Nepal government for army helicopters to evacuate stranded Indian nationals. In a series of tweets, Swaraj said India has set up hotlines for pilgrims and their family members who will be provided information in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam languages.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 04, 2018 12:13 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).