Durban -
A Durban senior public prosecutor who survived Saturday’s earthquake in Nepal was reunited with her family at King Shaka International Airport on Thursday night.
Roshiela Bhogal, 40, of Avoca, told of her terrifying ordeal as she ran from falling debris on a mountain track just after she had started climbing Mount Everest.
Bhogal said she was doing a solo trek and had met other trekkers. When she was between Phakding Village and Namche Bazaar she felt the ground vibrating and it started to shake harder.
“I asked my guide what was going on and before he could answer, I could see from the corner of my eye a landslide coming towards us.”
She said they ran for dear life and took cover.
Bhogal thought it was a usual occurrence on the mountain, but the guide said they had never had one before.
“As we were going further up, we saw more landslides and felt more tremors. We met other trekkers and none of us understood what was going on.
“My phone started going off furiously, there was call after call. When I checked the messages I found that my sisters were trying to get hold of me and some sent messages saying there was a huge earthquake.”
Bhogal said they met up with more trekkers and decided to wait for the authorities.
“There were so many tremors while we were at Namche Bazaar, we were too petrified to sleep in lodges. We were sleeping in tents on the top of the mountain, any place where we felt safer.”
Seeing no one coming to their rescue, they decided to make their way back to Kathmandu.
Bhogal joined a group of trekkers from India who had organised a private evacuation to the airport at Lukla.
“All flights had been cancelled. The weather was bad. There was no way we could get out.”
The Indian Army sent a helicopter and took the first lot of people. They waited for the second chopper and it came the next morning and took them to Kathmandu.
“From there it was another struggle, but I managed to get another flight to Delhi and my sisters had arranged a flight for me from Delhi to Dubai and from Dubai to South Africa.”
Scary
Bhogal said: “I had to dump half of my stuff. I do not know what happened to my one bag in Kathmandu because the entire place was destroyed and my luggage was left there. I could not take most of my things into the chopper, so I just took the basics.
“It was scary to be there. We were all enjoying ourselves, moving towards our destinations, and within minutes our entire experience on the mountain changed.”
Bhogal said Nepal was chaotic.
“When I left Tribhuvan International Airport, there were hundreds of buses arriving at the airport, people were camping outside, and most of the commercial areas were not operational.
She said people were desperate for flights either to India or their own countries.
Bhogal said she had spent a day in Kathmandu and was already into the second day of her three-week trip when the earthquake struck.
“I was really enjoying myself and it is what I wanted to do.
“I would definitely like to go back and my children would love to see it (Everest),” the mother of 5-year-old twins said.
undefinedHer husband, Abhi Bhogal, son Rtyu and daughter Aryaa, and about 15 family members were at the airport in Durban to welcome her home on Thursday.
The Mercury