Survivors recall close shave they had in temblor-hit region
Pavithra (right) with her father and mother at the Chennai airport on Monday. (Photo: DC/File)
Chennai: Twelve persons who were stranded in quake-affected Nepal, reached Chennai on Monday afternoon by Air India flight after the Indian Air Force airlifted them on Sunday night to Delhi from Kathmandu.
T. Ramesh Babu of Vellore, who was leading a team of 10 members, said the tremor took place when they were in Kathmandu’s Durbar Square. “There were cries, shouts and mayhem when it happened. None of us was trapped in the debris. We went to the hotel where we stayed. It was not damaged but all the facilities at the hotel were off. There was no electricity and no water. On Saturday night, we had to come out of the hotel rooms three times because of aftershocks,” said Babu, who runs a printing press. He was travelling with his family and friends from Vellore and Kolathur in Chennai.
The next morning they reached the airport from where IAF airlifted them by night. “Only after reaching Tamil Nadu House in Delhi, we felt at home,” he said, while talking to reporters at the Chennai airport on Monday afternoon.
Niaz Ahamed, another tourist from Tamil Nadu who reached Chennai from Nepal on the same flight, said that he had to spend two days on roads after the tremors. “I was carrying enough cash. But there was no food and water anywhere. I walked a long way to reach the airport. Only after seeing IAF men at the Kathmandu airport did I feel relieved,” Niaz from Gudiyattam in Vellore said. He had left for Nepal a week ago.
Parents heave sigh of relief on hearing daughter’s voice:
When Paneerselvam, working in a private firm and his wife Thamaraiselvi from Kolathur in city, decided to send their 14-year-old daughter to Nepal with their family friend on a tour, they never thought that it would be an agonizing wait for them to see her again.
“Pavithra, though she had never stayed away from me for more than two days, wanted to go to Nepal with her friend and her family. Her friend Priyanka and mother Mala were going with their family friends from Vellore. So we decided to send her, despite the fact that her classes for her standard X have already started,” said Thamaraiselvi. She left for Nepal last Monday.
“When we saw the news on TV about the earthquake we were shocked. But we received a call from her on Saturday afternoon saying she was safe and later she called again,” Thamaraiselvi said.
( Source : dc correspondent )
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