Nepal quake: More Singaporeans out of harm's way

SINGAPORE – More Singaporeans in Nepal are reported to be safe as of today (April 26), with a photographer, a yoga instructor and both of their spouses, the latest to update on their situation. 

In Kathmandu, Ms Murni Mastan was initially cut off, and could not get access to consular services. She wrote on her Facebook account yesterday: "I can't see anything that you post, desperate to leave the country tomorrow but haven't heard from the Singapore Embassy nor are there any flight flying out tomorrow. I heard the Embassy was supposed to prep to send Singaporeans back by SilkAir but no one called my Nepali number."

At 5.35am today, Ms Murni indicated Singapore consular officials had gotten in touch with her. She posted: " Earthquake update: 2-second tremor again. Embassy called earlier to advise me to stay put and keep close to access to water and food. Advised not to go to airport yet as it's still chaotic, plus the airport is really small. Embassy will try to take me home as soon as possible."

Two Nanyang Technological University undergraduates - Kenji Kwok, 24, and Cynthia Choo, 22 - are also in the Nepalese capital interning for the Nepali Times newspaper.

Channel NewsAsia got in touch with Mr Kwok, who is in Lalitpur currently on assignment. On the current situation, he said: "Everyone's out on the streets to see the wreckage caused by the earthquake. Some of the temples at world heritage monuments like Patan Durbar Square and Kathmandu Durbar Square are quite badly damaged. People are curious to see but in the event of an aftershock, there's still a lot of panicking. We just felt one and everyone ran away.

"They just ran away from tall buildings until it stops. Each of the aftershocks last less than 10 seconds for now."

He added that both he and Cynthia are staying put in Nepal for now. "We are currently not sure of the situation. We are staying put for now to document the situation. We are keeping in contact with our professors at Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information."

"We will update them whenever we can. Now we just want to find out more about the situation." Mr Kwok added that he is in touch with his family too.

When Channel NewsAsia spoke with Cynthia Choo later, she shared: "When the earthquake hit, we were not at the epicentre, we were up in Hattiban, near a popular hiking spot. And even at Hattiban, the ground was shaking. What we could tell of Kathmandu was that there were big dust clouds going over, so we knew that buildings collapsed."

The Straits Times also reported today that two Singaporean women were on tour in Bhaktapur when the earthquake occured. "Mr Ganga Budhathoki, owner of Singapore tour agency Brothers International Tours and Trading, said the women were safe and staying in a hotel with his brother, a Nepalese tour guide," ST reported.

Yoga instructor Raihan Ruslan, is four months pregnant and one of the Singaporeans desperate to get a plane ticket home.

She recalled the earthquake experience to Channel NewsAsia: "We were just getting ready to go out, and the whole apartment just started swaying left to right, and things just started falling off - pieces of brick and ornaments.

"We managed to go out and go into an open area right in front, and that's where we saw one of the temples right in front of us just collapse to the ground."

She said she spent yesterday camping at the airport with her husband: "People knew none of the flights were going to take off so they started setting up camp here and there. And we chose a nice grassy patch away from any structures. We spent the night out there in the cold - but some trekkers around us gave us jackets and blankets."

Ms Raihan added: "And throughout the night tremors were felt every now and then. And every time there were tremors people would wake up and start screaming, and after that they would calm down."

30-year-old Singaporean photographer Zakaria Zainal, who is based in Kathmandu with his wife, posted on Sunday afternoon an account of his experience on Facebook.

MOUNT EVEREST UPDATE

The Aluminaid Team Singapura Everest 2015, comprising Nur Yusrina Yaakob, Seumas Yeo, Ismail Latiff and Zulkifli Latiff, are safe. Three of them - Yusrina, Ismail and Zukifli - are currently at Mount Everest base camp. When contacted by Channel NewsAsia yesterday, Yusrina said the trio were a little shaken, as the avalanche had flattened a camp less than 100 metres away from theirs.

She later posted on Facebook that the team wanted to help with the rescue efforts, but were advised by their guides to stay put for their own safety.

Another climber attempting to scale Mount Everest, Felix Tan, is reported to be safe base on updates on his Facebook page. The administrator of the page posted at 9.16pm yesterday: "'All expeditions on the Northside, Base camp, and ABC are currently ok. We are ok.' - from his expedition guide."

A subsequent message at 10.12am today stated: "Felix is staying put at the camp and not moving higher. Currently, no mobile reception in the area." The administrator added that the climber was at 6,500m.

Following a quake aftershock of 6.7-magnitude in Nepal on Sunday afternoon, the team updated their Facebook page to confirm they were still safe, despite following avalanches. A later post advised members of the media not to contact the group as they were "in a high risk zone and they should be alert of their surrounding and not replying message or picking up phone calls".

TEAM MEZZA MEMBERS "SAFE"

In addition, four Singaporeans on another expedition seem to be uncontactable. Ms Vanessa Koh told Channel NewsAsia that her cousin, Mr Seah Zhi Hao, 25, and his three friends were on Mount Everest, and their team is called Team Mezza.

According to Mr Seah's itinerary, they "should have been on the way from Dingboche Village to Khumbu Icefalls on Saturday", Ms Koh said.

Another Facebook user, Shena Na, named the others on Team Mezza - May Na, Zane Lee and Emilyn Koh - via a comment on Channel NewsAsia's Facebook page.

However, in an email to Channel NewsAsia at 2.49pm, Ms Koh said: "We just got a text from the team that every one is safe and are descending to safer altitudes."

Singapore has no embassy in Nepal, but Singaporeans seeking consular assistance can contact the Singapore High Commission in New Delhi at +91-98102-03595 or singhc_del [at] sgmfa.gov.sg.