Gangtok, June 5 (UNI) Two US citizens among 63 stranded tourists, including children and women, were successfully airlifted from landslide-ravaged Chaten village in north Sikkim, by an Indian Air Force helicopter to the Pakyong airport, some 30 km east of Gangtok, official sources said.

Among the evacuees at the Pakyong airport was a Buddhist monk, who with others got stranded on May 29 last after a cloudburst triggered landslides blocking all exit routes from Sikkim's last village in the north to the rest of the world. The other side of the Chaten and Lachen lies the China border.

"A total 63 tourists, including adults, children, and two US citizens, have been evacuated by an IAF helicopter and brought to Pakyong airport. Further evacuations will be conducted, subject to weather conditions," said a one-liner Sikkim government communique.

This was the second aerial evacuation after June 3 in which 30 stranded tourists and 4 injured Army personnel were evacuated. On Wednesday, attempts to fly two helicopters proved futile twice as the choppers were forced to return following worsening weather conditions.

Early Thursday morning, two choppers, MI-41 and MI-39 of the Indian armed forces left Pakyong for a rescue operation.

UNI PC PRS