Indonesia is evacuating Thai people from Lombok island

BANGKOK, July 30 (TNA) – Interior Minister Anupong Paojinda said Indonesian officials were bringing Thai tourists out of Lombok island as its local airport remained operational. He was responding to the reports that nearly 200 Thai tourists had been stranded near the crater of Mount Rinjani on the island after an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.4 on the Richter scale. There were no casualties among Thai people, the local airport was operating and their evacuation was underway, Gen Anupong said. He believed Indonesian officials were able to handle the evacuation. The Thai embassy in Jakarta stated through its Facebook page yesterday that as of 5.30pm it was informed that 180 Thai people were stranded near the volcano and most of them visited the place in groups with Indonesian guides. Officials at the embassy and the Royal Thai Honorary Consulate in Bali kept contacting the Thai people and were coordinating their evacuation with local Indonesian authorities, the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Indonesian rescue officials. (TNA)