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Headed home ... Nepal Earthquake survivors about to board a flight out of Kathmandu. Picture: Nathan Edwards Source: News Corp Australia
TWO Amberley-based C-17 planes last night transported more than 100 Australians, along with citizens from New Zealand, Canada and the US, to Bangkok where they will be offered two nights accommodation before returning home or travelling on.
The number of Australians still unaccounted for in Nepal dropped dramatically yesterday down to approximately 20.
Australians at the airport told The Daily Telegraph they would attempt to return to Nepal to offer assistance after their harrowing experiences.
Manly local Alice Forrest, travelling with mum Nicolee Woods, was on a bus from Pokhara to Kathmandu when the quake struck.
Survivor ... Alice Forrest from Manly arrives at Kathmandu International airport to board an Australian Defence Force C17 aircraft to Bangkok. Picture: Nathan Edwards Source: News Corp Australia
The 27-year-old, who has been assisting Nepalese people since the quake, will attempt to continue her travel out of Bangkok.
“We were trekking in Pokhara and got the bus back to Kathmandu and just missed a landslide,†Ms Forrest said.
“We has to walk back for hours to get back into Kathmandu.â€
The mother and daughter — who intend to continue travelling through Asia before returning to Australia — had a flight out of Nepal scheduled for Sunday but had to postpone following the aftershocks and heavy delays at the airport.
Helping the Aussies ... This van helps transport Australians, New Zealanders, Canadians and US citizens at Kathmandu International before their flight to Bangkok. Picture: Nathan Edwards Source: News Corp Australia
Australian Ambassador to Nepal Glenn White said most Australians were now safe and they were assisting them in getting them back to Kathmandu.
It comes as rescuers pulled two survivors from the earthquake rubble where they had been trapped for five days.
The joy interrupted a dreary and still fearful day in which thousands worried about aftershocks lined up to board free buses to their rural hometowns.
More than 70 aftershocks have been recorded in the Himalayan region since Saturday’s earthquake.
Out of Nepal ... Joel Whitesel from Canada waits to board a flight to Bangkok. Picture: Nathan Edwards Source: News Corp Australia
Indian seismologist JL Gautam says the 73 aftershocks recorded as of Thursday morning by India’s monitoring stations ranged from 3.2 magnitude to 6.9, the strongest occurring on Sunday.
Hundreds cheered as the 15-year-old, identified by police as Pemba Tamang, was pulled out of the wreckage, dazed and dusty, and carried away on a stretcher.
He had been trapped under the collapsed debris of a seven-story building in Kathmandu since Saturday, when the magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck.
Lucky escape ... Toni Perry from Surry Hills leaves Kathmandu International airport to board an Australian Defence Force C17 aircraft to Bangkok. Picture: Nathan Edwards Source: News Corp Australia
Nepalese rescuers, supported by an American disaster response team, had been working for hours to free him. L.B. Basnet, the police officer who crawled into a gap to reach Tamang, said he was surprisingly responsive.
“He thanked me when I first approached him,†said Basnet. “He told me his name, his address, and I gave him some water. I assured him we were near to him.â€
When Tamang was lifted out, his face was covered in dust, and medics had put an IV drop into his arm.
A blue brace had been placed around his neck. He appeared stunned, and his eyes blinked in the sunlight as workers hurriedly carried him away.
Emergency worker Roman Schulze said rescuers pulled a second person from the rubble, also trapped for five days.
He said it took 10 hours to pull the woman to safety.
Other incredible rescues include a four-month-old baby discovered alive 22 hours after the quake hit and 28-year-old Rishi Khanal who had spent 80 hours under concrete drinking his own urine.