Kimberley - Two Kimberley pastors narrowly escaped the devastating effects of Saturday’s earthquake in Nepal, which caused extensive damage and triggered huge avalanches on Mount Everest.
Pastors André Venter, 56, and Harry Hurndall, 55, of the City of Hope Church in Kimberley, were on a climb to Mount Everest’s base camp as part of a fundraising effort for a local children’s home, Christina Kiddie Children’s Home.
They were about 180 metres away from the base camp when the earthquake that measured 7.8 on the Richter scale struck, resulting in a massive avalanche that left about 20 dead at their base camp.
Climbers who were higher up on Mount Everest, appeared to have avoided the deadly avalanche that struck base camp, but many - estimated to be in the hundreds - could not descend on their own.
Venter and Hurndall, together with their team, had stopped for lunch and would have been in the middle of the devastation that left several mountaineers dead and many more injured or cut off, if they had not done so, according to Venter’s wife, Pastor Desiré Venter.
“If they had not stopped for lunch for an hour or so, they would have been at base camp, where the terrible destruction took place. This just goes to show that nothing happens without a higher purpose,” she said on Tuesday.
Videos taken by those present at the base camp during the avalanche, show a wall of snow crashing down on mountaineers and tents.
An online post from Venter on Saturday, shortly after the incident, stated: “We are two hours away from base camp. Terrible earthquakes of 7.5 and 6.5 magnitude have happened in Nepal. Everest is experiencing earth tremors and avalanches. We are safe so far but are cut off at 5 200 metres. Please pray. We are going to try and get out of here. The snow is bad. Many dead at base camp,” Pastor Andre Venter.
The two pastors embarked on the climb with two teammates and two Sherpa guides on April 17.
Desiré on Tuesday said that while the two “always wanted to do the climb” they also embarked on the “private endeavour” to raise funds for a children’s home in Kimberley.
“After climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, the two did a lot of preparation and research for this (Mount Everest) climb,” she said.
She added that she received a short message later on Saturday stating that they were safe and busy with a nine-hour descent, trying to reach Pangboche, a remote village in the Himalayas.
“We are doing fine amongst earthquake tremors. We are busy descending while the weather has improved. We are going to try and reach Pangboche by nightfall. We are not sure how many folks died on Tuesday but by the grace of God we were saved because we stopped for lunch. We were 180 metres short of the base camp and only experienced the avalanche snow storm,” the message read.
The team then spent Sunday in a gorge in Naamche Bazaar, amid fears that a nearby dam wall would break, coupled with the negative effects on their health of descending quickly.
From here they were airlifted by private helicopter on Monday to Lukla, where they received further support.
They were on Tuesday still in Lukla, waiting for weather conditions to clear in order to get a flight back to Kathmandu.
“We just managed to find quaint, poorly cleaned accommodation for the night. There are no flights leaving Lukla for Kathmandu. Weather conditions are not good. Our two Indian teammates have just been evacuated by their embassy and offered their hotel room in Kathmandu to us if we get out tomorrow (Wednesday). We are doing fine but please pray for the weather conditions to improve for flights to become available,” a message from the two pastors on Tuesday read.
However, Desiré on Tuesday said that the men were unsure if their hotel was still standing after the earthquake left large parts of the city completely destroyed.
“They described the incident as horrific. They saw several bodies in relief tents and said the area resembled a war zone. We are, however, just relieved that they are safe and believe that they will be on their scheduled return flight to South Africa, via Dubai, on Friday. We now, only after this terrible crisis, fully understand the peace of God,” she said.
Desiré added that they had been in contact with the South African embassy and Gift of the Givers in order to ensure the men’s safety and their return home, as well as for assistance with travel documents that are believed to have been destroyed in their hotel in Kathmandu.
“Communication, while being sparse, has thankfully been incredible, with even the wives of fellow climbers making contact with us. Social media, like Facebook and WhatsApp, has also been indispensable in keeping us calm and informed. We are extremely grateful for all the care and support received from all corners.
“We now know that God’s work for us is not yet done and we give Him thanks for saving our loved ones,” she concluded.
The death toll in Nepal alone rose to 4 352 on Tuesday, with more than 8 000 injured, according to police, amid warnings that the full extent of the tragedy would not be known until rescue teams had reached “flattened” villages in remote regions.
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