Rescue mission: Japan honours PAF team for rescuing tourists from Gilgit

ISLAMABAD:

Members of the Pakistan Air Force who flew back 77 stranded Japanese tourists from Gilgit to Chaklala in April were honoured on Tuesday.

Japanese ambassador Hiroshi Oe presented an Award of Excellence to the seventeen-member team for the mission.

The tourists were stranded in the region after sectarian violence erupted. The PAF dispatched a plane on the request of the Japanese embassy.

Ambassador Oe said that the government and the people of Japan highly value the rescue effort carried by the 17-member team, despite bad weather.

“This award is the recognition of your great services for the Japanese tourists who had been in need of emergency help at that time,” said the ambassador.

Published In The Express Tribune, June 6^th, 2012.