S’pore tour groups make it safely out of Sichuan quake zone

SINGAPORE — Two tour groups from Singapore, which were affected by the massive earthquake that hit Sichuan province on Tuesday (Aug 8) night, have safely made it out of the popular tourist spot Jiuzhaigou.

A group of 20 tourists with Chan Brothers, who were in a hotel in the city when the quake occurred, arrived in Chengdu, the Sichuan capital, on Wednesday (Aug 9) evening. Jiuzhaigou is near the epicentre of the 6.5-magnitude quake.

Another batch of 16 travellers with Dynasty Travel is already touring the city of Leshan, after reaching Chengdu on Wednesday morning. 

Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs had said earlier that no Singaporeans were injured in the quake.

Chan Brothers’ spokesperson Justine Koh said the agency will check with the travellers to see if they wish to continue with their tour, or return to Singapore earlier. The group was slated to return to Singapore on Sunday.

The travel agency is also offering tweaked itineraries to its other customers who have booked trips to Jiuzhaigou. 

Ms Koh said: “Requests from customers who wish to cancel their tours will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis with the respective airlines.”

At Dynasty Travel, spokesperson Alicia Seah said the 16 travellers now in Leshan will continue with their itinerary in the south-western part of Sichuan before returning to Singapore on Wednesday as scheduled.

Ms Sharon Tan, one of the travellers, told Channel NewsAsia that her group had just started having dinner at a restaurant when they heard a loud bang and the ground started shaking. The group ran out of the restaurant and followed one of the employees to the open car park. They ended up spending the night in the car park, but had difficulty sleeping because of the numerous tremors they felt, added Ms Tan.

Ms Seah told TODAY: “We are now monitoring the situation with our overseas land operator and relevant authorities to ensure the safety of our customers touring around Chengdu and south-western parts of Sichuan.”

Another group of 23 tourists with CTC Travel was already travelling out of Jiuzhaigou, towards Chengdu, on Tuesday night when they received the news about the earthquake.

Ms Sheryl Tan, 24 who was there on a holiday with her parents, told TODAY that everyone on the bus was shocked by the news. “There were a lot of phone calls coming in for the tour guide, because everyone was worried,” said the graduate from Nanyang Technological University. Her group had spent two nights in Jiuzhaigou.

While Ms Tan’s group escaped the brunt of the earthquake, their tour bus was caught in long traffic jams due to the peak tourist season.

Ms Tan also noticed that as their bus entered Chengdu, there were police roadblocks at several locations to prevent people from going to Jiuzhaigou. “I was worried for my safety 
because I was still in the mountains area, but the guide was very reassuring,” she added. 

A CTC Travel spokesperson confirmed with TODAY that its last tour group left Jiuzhaigou on Tuesday, and they have no other groups in the area.