Most tourists evacuated from Andaman islands

A fleet of seven ships and six helicopters evacuated most of the 1,400 tourists stranded in two islands of Andamans due to cyclonic weather

Port Blair: A fleet of seven ships and six helicopters evacuated most of the 1,400 tourists stranded in two islands of Andamans due to cyclonic weather since Monday, officials said yesterday.

As the weather cleared in the morning, Navy, Coast Guard, Air Force and union territory administration started a joint evacuation drive and brought back most of the stranded tourists to Port Blair from Havelock and Neil islands.

"The remaining tourists will be shifted by tonight. All are safe and were taken care of," an official of the Andaman and Nicobar islands said. The cyclonic storm Vardah, which was lying 250 km west-northwest of Port Blair, was very likely to intensify into a severe cyclone later in the night, according to MeT department.

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