Gangtok: 427 tourists were evacuated from North Sikkim on Thursday (June 20), four days after they were left stranded in the district due to torrential rain that damaged road infrastructure. This was revealed by North Sikkim Collector Raj Yadav.

He further said that the district administration arranged vehicles for all the 427 tourists to reach the state capital Gangtok.

Apart from government vehicles, arrangements were made to rope in army vehicles and private taxis to first bring the stranded tourists to Chungthang. It was from there that all of them were taken to Gangtok by state-owned buses.

All tourists were provided refreshments before being transported free of cost till Gangtok.

Medical facilities were made available to the stranded tourists, the North Sikkim DC said, adding that the Travel Agents Association of Sikkim has provided free food and lodging to all visitors at Lachen, while the Army's Gorkha Regiment and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police helped the administration in the mission.

As many as 60 tourist vehicles were stranded between Lachen and Zema 3 in North Sikkim four days ago, due to torrential rains in the region, hours after a cloudburst had occurred in the region.