Red Deer woman safe in Nepal

Michael Dawe was home in Red Deer watching TV late Friday when he learned a major disaster had occurred in Nepal.

His heart sank because his partner of 25 years, Beverly Williams, is in Kathmandu on a business trip.

On Saturday, she had planned to take a trip north of the nation’s capital, and may have been near the epicentre of the 7.8-magnitude earthquake at around noon local time.

On Monday, Dawe, a candidate for the Liberals and Green party in next week’s provincial election, said he had a feeling she was OK despite not hearing from her.

“I am very pleased this morning to say Beverly has been in touch,” he wrote on his Twitter account Tuesday. “She was in the earthquake but is safe. Thank you everyone for your support.”

More than 4,000 people are believed to have died in the earthquake.

Williams was in Nepal to visit the region from where her business imports wool sweaters.