Nine HK residents lost contact in Nepal

Hong Kong hikers and visitors who survived the powerful 7.9 magnitude earthquake in Nepal were facing new challenges to return home, while SAR authorities and the country’s diplomatic outpost in Nepal struggled to establish contacts with nine Hong Kong residents.

According to the Immigration Department, SAR authorities and the Chinese embassy in Nepal were still unable to establish contacts with nine Hong Kong residents, out of a total of 20 requests for assistance. Most of the rest managed to overcome the communication cutoff almost a day after the quake.

Among those who managed to reconnect with their families and friends was Ada Tsang Yin-hung, the liberal studies teacher who was a member of a Chinese women hikers team. She reportedly suffered only minor injuries when her team’s base camp in the Himalayas was wiped out by an avalanche triggered by the quake.

The teacher had made a promise to her students to conquer the summit in five years. She abandoned her 2014 mission following a deadly avalanche. A year later, she survived the deadliest disaster in the history of mountain trekking in the Himalayas.

Tsang’s teammate Han Zijun told online media Sohu that the Hong Kong teacher only suffered minor injuries. The director of immigration confirmed later on Sunday that Tsang was airlifted to a hospital and has shown symptoms of mountain sickness.

The swift rescue operation that began at dawn of Sunday, according to Sohu, was coordinated by the Chinese Mountaineering Association. A Sunday update on Tsang’s Facebook page showed the teacher sitting on a couch in a rural setting.

A mainland newspaper, citing a Kathmandu-based Chinese restaurateur, reported that she was airlifted to Lukla pending transfer to Kathmandu.

But Eric Wong, 24, was still missing. He was traveling with flight attendant Donna Pao Sei-wei in Nepal before they parted ways at Gokyo Lake. Wong went on to a mountain expedition, while Pao joined another Chinese team heading to a village. Pao called her family around noon on Sunday.

Other Hong Kong hikers had fared better. Veteran mountaineer John Tsang Chising said in TV interviews that he had to race against an avalanche that flattened the other side of the main base camp. All his teammates are safe.

Family of Jo Cheung Kei also received good news hours after seeking help from news media. Still stranded in Poon Hill near Pokhara, Cheung confirmed he was fine and was unaware of the massive destruction in the main cities.

But hikers are facing problems trying to evacuate the stricken areas. John Tsang descended to the small village of Gorakshep on Sunday afternoon, but he was stranded there because all road access was destroyed. It would take several days of trekking to reach the nearest airstrip at Lukla.