Cape Town - An unofficial list of people caught in a blizzard ranked as one of Nepal’s worst mountain disasters says the five South Africans are safe – but the Department of International Relations says it is in the dark about them.
The five include a Cape Town teacher, Daniela Cum, who was on holiday with her Israeli husband, Gil Yaakov Hershkovitz, also unofficially listed as “safe”.
The Annapurna Nepal avalanche and blizzard info share unofficial status list, compiled on Facebook from posts and comments, gives details of people who have been accounted for since being caught in the storm or who remain missing. It has grown from 468 last week to 552. It includes people from Canada, US, Australia and France.
Department spokesman Clayson Monyela said on Sunday evening he could not yet confirm whether South Africans had been caught in the unseasonal blizzard early last week.
The department was awaiting word from Nepal, he said.
The others named on the list as South Africans and described as “safe” are Graeme Duane, Sandra Kruger, Matthew Stark and Maresa van der Walt. It has not been established what parts of the country they are from.
Heavy snowfalls and avalanches were triggered in the Himalayas by the tail end of Cyclone Hudhud, which hit neighbouring India last weekend.
Cape Times