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Sunday, October 28, 2018, 14:42
Chinese tourists start to return home from typhoon-hit Saipan
By Xinhua
Sunday, October 28, 2018, 14:42 By Xinhua

This Oct 25, 2018 photo shows a resident, center, clearing up in Saipan after Super Typhoon Yutu caused widespread destruction across the islands of Saipan and Tinian. Chinese officials in Los Angeles have confirmed that some 1,500 Chinese tourists trapped in Saipan due to the typhoon would be taken back home on Oct 28, 2018. (JON PEREZ / AFP)

LOS ANGELES/CHENGDU – Some 1,500 Chinese tourists trapped by Super Typhoon Yutu in Saipan started to fly back home on Sunday.

A charter flight of Sichuan Airlines arrived in Saipan on Sunday morning, which was the first Chinese flight inbound after local airport resumed from damage.

Yutu, one of the strongest super typhoons in history, slammed the islands of Tinian and Saipan on Wednesday, bringing sustained winds of 180 mph

Yutu, which hit the island territories overnight on Wednesday, caused extensive damage to critical infrastructure on Saipan and Tinian islands, and displaced many families.

Local airport and port were shut down due to the damage. The airport reopened to civil airplanes on Sunday morning, but only allows six flights to pass through on Sunday due to infrastructure limitations.

The Consulate General of China in Los Angeles, earlier on Friday, confirmed that the Chinese tourists trapped in Saipan would be taken back home as soon as Sunday.

The consulate general said Sichuan Airlines and Hong Kong Airlines are scheduled to send charter planes to Saipan Sunday to bring home the stranded Chinese tourists.

On Sunday, there were five inbound flights of foreign airlines, according to airport schedule. Besides the flight from Sichuan Airlines, another three Chinese flights also arrived at Saipan International Airport to evacuate Chinese tourists, which were from China Eastern Airlines, Beijing Capital Airlines and Hong Kong Airlines.

Chinese tourists were very excited when they heard the news last night they could fly back home on Sunday, said Tom Liu, president of Saipan Travel Inc.

"The evacuation went very well," said Liu. 

"Sichuan Airlines and other Chinese airline companies made good preparations for sending flights to Saipan. As soon as local airport resumed, Chinese flights flew inbound immediately."

With sustained winds of over 270 km per hour, the powerful storm caused one death and several injuries, tearing up roofs and pulling down trees and power lines in the Marianas.

Chinese movie producer Zhang Yongkun, who was shooting a film with his crew when Yutu landed on the island, told Xinhua via cellphone on Friday, "My group are in three hotels, with power supply from the hotels' generators," adding "we are safe, we have water and food, but all of us feel nervous, we want to go home."

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