Nepal Earthquake: 2 Edinburgh residents missing
Darren Alexander Smith, 27, and Fiona Lamont, 26, are stranded in the town of Tal but are unharmed.
Brian Allen, 41, and Seobhan McGuigan, 41 are both still unaccounted for.
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Hide AdThe couple were able to contact Fiona’s father Norman this morning, who lives in South Queensferry, by text, and told him it would take another three days to evacuate to the Nepali capital, Kathmandu.
Norman, who had been waiting anxiously for news since the quake happened on Saturday, told the Evening News: “They’re in an area that has no telecommunications. I think they borrowed a phone.
“I got just one text, with a warning that they’re going to be out of communication for about three days while they try and get back to Kathmandu.
“But they’re safe and well, which is a huge relief. There’s no more information than that.”
He earlier tweeted: “Hard to describe feelings over 48h.”
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Hide AdAn aid charity based in the Capital has appealed for donations to help support its emergency response to the disaster.
The country at the foot of the Himalayas was rocked by a magnitude 7.8 quake on Saturday, killing at least 2500 people, levelling homes and triggering avalanches that have claimed the lives of climbers.
Mercy Corps, which has its HQ in Edinburgh, is rushing to provide vital supplies for families made homeless by the disaster, or who are too afraid to return to their houses.
The aid agency is responding to a call from the Nepalese government for blankets, bottled water, clothing and cooking equipment to prepare for an influx of displaced people at 16 camps set up across the quake-hit area, with 20,000 already receiving aid there.
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Hide AdMercy Corps has more than 100 staff on the ground in Nepal, and is taking donations to its appeal via its website.
Dozens of British tourists and climbers are believed to have been caught up in the disaster. The UK has dispatched an eight-strong humanitarian team to the country.
Two Scottish climbers, including a student from Edinburgh, are confirmed to be safe and have spoken to their families after narrowly escaping being cut off by an avalanche.
Speaking from Kathmandu, 55 miles to the south-east of the quake’s epicentre, Mercy Corps’ Nepal country director Sanjay Karki told the Evening News that children were sheltering as tremors continued to rock the city.
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Hide AdHe said: “We already have some aid pre-positioned in the country, and we are currently coordinating distribution with the government here.
“Some people have lost everything. We’ve been experiencing tremors continuously.
“No-one is going inside buildings. They’re in a state of panic because they don’t know when the next big tremor will hit.
“People are gathered in squares and school grounds, as well as spaces set out by the government. You can see children in the streets, or sheltering in tents and makeshift shelters.
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Hide Ad“We would ask everyone to support the fundraising initiative launched by Mercy Corps.”
Young climbers Calum Henderson, from Edinburgh, and his friend Joseph Feeney, from Coatbridge, both 21, have been left stranded and are sheltering in a teahouse. The pair are medical students in Aberdeen.
Mr Feeney’s father, Dr James Feeney, said: “The boys have been told they’re really lucky because another couple of days and they would have been further up the mountain and they wouldn’t have got back down. The landslide would have blocked them off. But they’re fine, they’re just a bit shook-up. They’re just wondering how they’re going to get home.”
The two young men were en-route to the Annapurna base camp in the Himalayas when the earthquake hit.
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Hide AdMeanwhile, Harry Potter author JK Rowling said her “heart is in Nepal” after the worst earthquake in more than 80 years hit the country.
The writer, who lives in Edinburgh, was in Kathmandu just four weeks ago with her family.
Yesterday the 49-year-old posted a picture of her trip on Twitter and wrote: “Heart in #Nepal Today. Met wonderful people there four weeks ago. I’m giving to Oxfam, please join me.”
• Donate to Mercy Corps at www.mercycorps.org.uk or by calling 08000 413 060.
LIST OF THOSE MISSING AFTER QUAKE
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Hide AdHere is a full list of British and Irish-born people believed to be missing in Nepal, compiled by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC):
Abdulla Dahab, 20, London
Adam Powell, 45, Great Britain
Alex Murphy, 25, Dublin
Andrew Robertson, 56, England
Ann McNeil, 66, Sussex
Arron Conran, 22, Ireland
Ashrafe Sultana, 31, London
Brian Allen, 41, Edinburgh
Brian Monteith, 22, Glasgow
Callumn Shally, 21, England
Chloe Pincho, 27, England
Ciaran Sands, 55, Ireland
Cliodhna Cork, 21, Dublin
Daniel Thomas Hughes, 36, Wrexham
Darine Flanagan, 22, Galway
Darren Alexander Smith, 27, Edinburgh
Darren Russell, 26, Wrexham
Deniz Csern Oklavek, 48, Luton
Derek Waters, 56, Dartford
Emma Louise Waterton, 37, UK
Emmet Gallagher, 33, Dublin
Evan Mark Williams, 51, Wolverhampton;
Fiona Lamont, 26, Staffordshire
Gary Williams, 52, Plymouth
George Richard Wilson, 69, Manchester
Hayley Saul, 32, Northampton
Heather Chan, 34, Dundee
Heather Stretton, 47, Louth, Lincolnshire
Helen Pounder, 21, Bishop Auckland
Huw Alexander Lashmar, 57, Wales
Ian Wainman, 42, Merseyside
Jack Kilpatrick, 24, England
Jack Young, 21, England
Jacqueline Bushe, 54, Donegal
Jacqueline Toal, 34, Glasgow
Janet Brownlie, 59, UK
Jason Russell, 28 Wrexham
Jonathan Hikmet, 25, UK
Jonathan William Blott, 24, UK
Joseph Ire Sieder, 45, London
Karl Townsend, 43, Liverpool
Kathleen R Fellows, 70, England
Keith Diplock, 71, East Sussex
Laurence Benjamin Gerhardt, 24, UK
Lloyd Davies, 22, UK
Lynda Davis, 50, Scotland
Madelana Ryan, 48, Dublin
Marilyn Ann Harnett, 65, Saffron Walden
Mark Ian Skenerton, 50, Chelmsford
Martin James Edmonds Gattuso, 38, Harborough Magna, Warwickshire
Martin Oppenheim, 65, England
Martin Thomas Donnelly, 34, Stockport
Mary Magdelina Claus, 64, Nuneaton
Matthew Caraport, 23, UK
Matthew David Spruell, 38, London
Matthew Thorne, 36, Stirling
Maurice Hanley, 54, England
Maxwell John Hynes Giusti, 45, London
Mike Russell, 42, Lancashire
Mitchell Carpenter, 23, Aberdeen
Monica Redenham, 63, London
Naomi Everett, 24, Manchester
Niall Kavanagh, 54, Dublin
Nicholas Cooney, 71, Drogheda
Norah Arscott, 77, Somerset
Oliver McKevitt, 24, Northern Ireland
Pat Loughran, 66, Dublin
Philip James Green, 30, London
Rachel McDonald, 26, Kent
Richard Jones, 59, Glasgow
Richard Bannister, 64, England
Ross Cameron Smith, 22, Dumfries
Ruth Millington, 25, UK
Samuel Beckett, 23, Portsmouth
Samuel Luke Bond, 28, Bath
Seobhan McGuigan, 41, Edinburgh
Shaun Bailey, 27, Stoke-on-Trent
Simon Charlesworth, 49, UK
Sinead Nic Cionna, 31, Monaghan
Sonia Downie, 50, London
Sophie Proffitt, 23, Oxford
Stephen Burke, 26, Ruislip
Su Browning, 62, Lambeth
Susan McDonald, 41, Dundee
Susannah Ross, 20, Bath
Terry Tremble, 56, England
Thomas Drumm, 55, Monaghan
Thomas William Southgate, 23, England
Tracy Ruth Powell, 45, UK
Victoria Barkas, 34, United Kingdom