A Dubai expat has described how massive boulders came crashing towards him at the north side of Everest base camp after a powerful earthquake hit Nepal. The earthquake devastated the heavily crowded Kathmandu valley, killing at least 1,900, and triggered a deadly avalanche on Mount Everest.

The 7.9 magnitude quake struck at midday on Saturday at a busy time of year for the tourism-reliant country's trekking and climbing season, with an estimated 300,000 foreign tourists in the country.

Nepal's police put the death toll at 1,910, with 4,625 injured. At least 700 were killed in the capital, a city of about 1 million people where many homes are old, flimsy and packed close together.

 

 

In Everest’s worst disaster, the bodies of 17 climbers were recovered from the mountain on Sunday after being caught in avalanches, but hundreds, many injured, remain stranded on the mountain.

One of those was Dubai-based Sean James (pictured below), a mountain guide from Sheffield, who was reading in his tent at base camp when the quake struck.

“The blocks coming down … were huge,” James, 44, told the Sunday Times. “You don’t know if they’re going to hit you. It was unreal. We didn’t know when it was going to stop... A few of the Brits had never seen this kind of thing before. They were very scared. The Sherpas too — they were grabbing each other and hugging.”

James, a professional climber, was at the north side of the Everest base camp. He told the Telegraph that he has experienced avalanches in mountains before, but never on such a scale.

“We were doing admin at the time when the earthquake started, we just jumped out of our tents. When the earthquake struck - it’s like a boat, you won’t believe it. You feel like you will fall over, it’s rocking and physical, you think they earth might open up and swallow you,” he told the Telegraph.

“We were climbing from the south. I’ve worked on the mountains on the south side – it’s a lot more popular. It's near the Kumbu icefall – it’s very dangerous. They fall anyway without earthquakes because they melt. They put ladders to cross it. Even if there’s a small quake it’s dangerous,” he said.

James said he had concerns for people on the south side, including the sherpas and their families in Kathmandu.

“I’m wondering about the roads to get back - the pass is often obstructed by landslides. We had just come down from about 7,000 metres, where we had been for seven days. We left sherpas there to fix the camps, and we came down for a break for rest,” he said.

 

In an update this morning on Instagram, James said the tremors were still being felt overnight.

“As we sleep on the ground in tents, last night we could still feel the ground trembling constantly. Apparently there were also a few larger shocks,” he said.

“South side Everest is truly dire so we are lucky on north side. The feeling this morning is that the mountain will be shut or simply that climbers will not continue this season. We have medical and other skills in our group and it looks like there will be changes and plans in the next few days.

We are talking to the other teams and will make the right decision in the next few days as to how to proceed.”

A group travelling with the UAE-based Gulf for Good that have been taking part in a Base Camp Challenge are also safe. In a post on Facebook, the group have been in touch with families.

“We wish to share with all of you that the G4G group is safe and have made it back to Lobuche a few hours ago,” said the post. “We are in touch with the families of our challengers on regular basis.

The G4G (Gulf for Good) teams in UAE and on-ground are monitoring the local situation closely. Our thoughts and prayers are with the people in Kathmandu and Everest base camp who may be affected.”

Meanwhile, the UAE has sent a search and rescue (SAR) team of 88 officers, rescuers, along with rescue equipment, from the Ministry of Interior to participate in the international SAR operations looking for survivors.

Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed, chairman of the Emirates Red Crescent, has directed the UAE relief agency to deliver urgent humanitarian assistance to the population affected by the earthquake that struck Nepal. A group of ERC aid workers will join the Ministry of Interior’s SAR team to participate in the international SAR operations.

Another ERC delegation will travel to Indian capital of New Delhi to purchase food and medical supplies and then airlift them as quickly as possible to the quake-affected areas in Nepal.