KATHMANDU: While a large number of foreigners were being rescued from Lukla and other parts of the country, trekking guides were unhappy with the late rescue operation of Nepal Tourism Board (NTB).

NTB had started evacuating foreigners from Thursday, however, initially the trekking guides did not receive any response from the authorities.

Posting a status on Facebook on March 28, Ramesh Tamang, who is a trekking guide, wrote, “More than 150 foreign tourists have been evacuated from Lukla and others are also getting out of here. But, still Nepali guides are not in the priority list.

We are continuously pressurising the authority.” As per Tamang, although the foreigners were being rescued, trekking guides were not even getting any information on whether they would be airlifted or not.

On Friday, the trekking guides stuck at Lukla had sent a letter to NTB, the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation and other stakeholders for their evacuation.

Thereafter, NTB had evacuated a total of 73 Nepalis, including trekking guides and other officials of trekking agencies.