Three Nepali workers trapped in the city of Tikrit in war-torn Iraq for the past three weeks have fled to Iraqi town of Al-Alam.

“We reached Al-Alam safely with the help of an Iraqi national. The place is comparatively safe,” said Pres Giri of Jhapa, who along with his two Nepali friends, Mohan Kumar Basnet of Morang and Top Bahadur Basnet of Dang, are relieved to be out of trouble.

They were  hiding in a container on the premises of Tikrit Teaching Hospital, 140 km north of Baghdad, after their company was bombed by Islamic militants. “We have been kept here in a private factory which processes water,” Giri said.

He said that the rebels had enquired a nurse at the hospital about them, and she had asked them to switch off their phones. The three men are trying to escape to Kurdistan, which is reportedly a safer place.

“An Iraqi national told us that he would help us get to the border of Kurdistan’s Capital Erbil. He also told us that he would send a vehicle to pick us up,” he said. The workers are in contact with the Nepali embassy in Pakistan. Officials of the embassy said they would send travel documents to the workers for their safe return.

Published on: 4 July 2014 | The Kathmandu Post