Chartered flight carrying S. Koreans departs Bolivia amid border closure

MEXICO CITY/SEOUL, March 29 (Yonhap) -- Forty-seven South Koreans left Bolivia on a U.S.-arranged chartered flight, the South Korean Embassy in La Paz said, after the South American nation imposed a nationwide lockdown to stem the spread of the new coronavirus.

The flight departed Saturday (Bolivia time) with South Korean residents and members of the Korea International Cooperation Agency's volunteer group on board, according to the embassy.

Of the 40 members of the volunteer group who applied to take the special flight, two could not board the plane due to fever, it said.

The chartered flight was headed to Miami after taking American, Canadian and South Korean passengers from the Bolivian cities of Cochabamba, La Paz and Santa Cruz.

South Korean passengers will return home individually from Miami.

"All South Korean passengers have their flights from Miami to South Korea booked," South Korean Ambassador to Bolivia Kim Hak-jae said.

Bolivia has shut down its borders and tightened restrictions on movement amid the global spread of COVID-19.

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