Coronavirus: 65 Hongkongers arrive home after weeks stranded in Peru

Residents took chartered flight for first leg of journey from Lima to London, paying for the journey themselves

But government is pressed to help hundreds more who remain stuck in other countries, including India

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Hong Kong residents are taken in a coach for testing on Sunday after finally arriving home from Peru. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

Published: 7:55pm, 5 Apr 2020Updated: 9:25am, 6 Apr 2020

Sixty-five Hong Kong residents stranded in Peru finally flew back to the city on Sunday afternoon with the help of the authorities, but the city government is being urged to help residents stuck in India and elsewhere to return home.

The residents took a government-chartered flight from the Peruvian capital Lima to London, where they boarded a regular flight back to Hong Kong. After landing at 4.15pm, they were taken in coaches from the airport tarmac to AsiaWorld-Expo, which the government is using to test people for the coronavirus. Once cleared, they can return home for a mandatory 14-day quarantine.

The chartered flight came after a 64-year-old Hong Kong man last month died in Cusco, in southeast Peru, after contracting the virus.

The residents were stranded in Peru after its government shut down the borders last month. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

“I believe that the government would not have arranged the chartered flight if it wasn’t for the Hong Kong man who died in Peru,” said Civic Party lawmaker Jeremy Tam Man-ho, who assisted the residents. “The arrangements to bring them home have come too late.”

According to authorities, 91 residents in Peru had sought help from the Immigration Department, with 65 confirming they would take the flight. The total cost to each traveller was about HK$30,000 (US$3,870).

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