Remaining 28 Pakistanis stranded in China return home

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ISLAMABAD: Remaining 28 Pakistanis, stranded in Tashkuergan in China’s Xinjiang province after landslides triggered by heavy rains blocked the main highway linking the two countries a few days ago, reached Islamabad from Urumqi, local media reported on Saturday.

Pakistan foreign office had said in a statement that the stranded Pakistanis are likely to return to the homeland on April 14, but only nine managed to return on that day.

Pakistan Embassy in Beijing had sent a two-member team, which arrived in Kashgar to assist the stranded people, was closely coordinating with China’s Foreign Office and local authorities in Kashgar as well as the Pakistanis themselves, the statement said.

Pakistanis in Tashkuergan would first travel to Kashgar from where they will be facilitated by embassy officials. “Subsequently, they will be repatriated from Urumqi to Islamabad by air when flights are available.”