Kathmandu -
The mother of one of four South Africans trapped in Langtang, a popular trekking area 130km north of the Kathmandu valley in Nepal, was relieved after finally hearing from her son on Thursday morning.
But Sue Sherman said her son Mike had told her of their terror when huge boulders and even cars came flying towards them during the quake.
Sherman said she heard Mike and his girlfriend, Kate Ahrends, of Cape Town, had managed to reach an army base in Dhunche but she hadn’t heard anything further.
She said she had not heard from her son since before the massive earthquake which hit Nepal on Saturday. When she heard from him she said she could not contain her emotions.
“The first thing I asked him was if he was okay,.
“He said: “Ja, mom. I’m okay - I’m eating a chocolate. Somebody gave me a chocolate.”
He told her they felt they had come close to death, because they were crossing a suspension bridge when the earthquake struck.
They dropped their bags and ran for cover as objects hurtled towards them.
According to Sue, Mike and Kate got back to Bamboo Village, a small resort in Langtang where they met up with a group of about seven other hikers and later joined a group of about 27 with whom they stayed.
Two other South Africans are believed to be in the group.
She said they had lost their luggage, but were safe which was what mattered.
Humanitarian aid group Gift of the Givers, which is doing relief work in Nepal, had initially hoped to fly the four South Africans out of the nature reserve before finding out that they had made their way safely to the army base.
Gift of the Givers co-ordinator Dr Ahmed Bham said attempts to communicate with the four was a challenge.
He added that further arrangements would be made to fetch them from the army base in Dhunche, which is only about 44km from Kathmandu.
He said the couple and the other two, Heinz Hochrinner and Irma Fourie, were in good health.
“We spoke to their guide and they said they planned on continuing with their hike and wouldn’t need any assistance.
“But they are absolutely fine,” he said.
Langtang, a popular trekking area 130km north of Kathmandu valley close to the border with China, was devastated during the earthquake.
Bad weather is hampering efforts to reach those trapped.
Pretoria News