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Visakhapatnam: What began as a spiritual journey to the sacred Muktinath temple turned into a desperate fight for survival. As violence swept across Nepal, dozens of tourists from Andhra Pradesh found themselves trapped in chaos — fleeing angry mobs, losing their belongings to fire, and clinging to hope amid destruction. Now, in their own words, they recount the fear, the loss, and the relief of finally making it home. The Andhra govt arranged a chartered flight to evacuate them from Pokhara to Kathmandu on Sep 11, and then back to Visakhapatnam. Speaking to TOI, the tourists recounted their ordeal. KVS Sridevi, an LIC employee, said, “When we somehow returned to our hotel, it was charred to ruins. Our luggage, including gold and cash, was reduced to ashes.”AVRK Murthy, a Vizag resident, said, “Though we stayed in another hotel on the night of Sept 9, we couldn’t sleep or eat. Protesters continued to set buildings on fire, and the sound of LPG cylinders exploding nearby kept us confined to our rooms till the early hours of Sep 10,” he said. ‘Mental agony’“Our driver was also attacked by protesters with flowerpots and other objects.”A Sujatha, another tourist, said they planned to explore revered sites in Nepal like the Pashupatinath temple and return on Sep 14. “The violence caused immense mental suffering and fear. We lost our belongings in the fire and watched in horror as thick plumes of smoke rose from our hotel. Fortunately, we found another hotel that night. “Mobile signals were weak, but we managed to contact the Andhra Pradesh govt helpline, which eventually helped us return unharmed to Visakhapatnam,” she said.
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