Holidaymakers recount experience
Two Emirati women among group that endured ordeal from quake to evacuation
What was planned as a spiritual retreat and holiday turned out to be a horrifying experience for a group of Dubai residents who returned home yesterday.
Among the group were a couple of Emirati women who were rescued by the UAE Embassy officials in New Delhi.
The two, along with a dozen others, reached Nepal on April 22. Relating what happened, Sara Abdullah Al Badi said. “I was at the hotel, sitting with a few others of our group. We were listening to the instructions for the rest our trip, that is when the earth began to shake and everybody started running out. I fell on the floor and I saw the earth cracking in front of me. I was rolling on the grass, unable to get up I held tight on a tree and it continued to shake for several seconds.”
What followed was a fourday ordeal of survival through a series of aftershocks and tremors that caused panic.
“Thankfully, everyone at our hotel survived the first earthquake, but all of us were shocked and we were scared to return to our rooms. I called the embassy in New Delhi, because there is no UAE embassy in Kathmandu, and spoke with the ambassador. Next day the embassy sent a car and dropped us at the airport,” Sara said.
When Sara and her friend reached the airport the first major aftershock struck.
“There was chaos and people were running helter-skelter. There were hundreds of people at the airport. We got stuck at the airport for a day as aeroplanes were unable to land and finally on Monday we got our flight back,” Sara said.
However, the other Dubai residents had to endure several more hours of fear.
“Every second spent after the earthquake was a nightmare. Just before the earthquake there was small party going on in the law of the hotel near the swimming pool, when it struck, water in the swimming pool came out in the shape of a massive wave and knocked out everyone. We thought it was a tsunami, but luckily all of us survived,” said Janna Kudrav, who returned yesterday.
She added that it felt like the earth was continuously shaking all day and night. “We were unable to sleep or eat. Every time we calmed down or settled a bit, there was another aftershock and we ran out. For three days we were constantly running out and in,” Janna said.
Janna and 14 others went on a six-day trip. “We enjoyed for a couple days, but after the earthquake struck we were just praying that we would survive and return home.
“We were lucky that hotel we were staying in was a bit away from the city and it survived the devastation. We had food and water supply as well as power and internet so we were in touch with our families and also received regular updates about what was happening,” she added.
Lebanese national Aznive Tossounian, who called her return to Dubai “a miracle”.
“When the earthquake stuck I was in the room and everything was moving right and left. I tried to run out but the door wouldn’t open and when I finally managed to open it slammed back on my finger. I somehow held the door frame tight and stayed calm. It shook for about 20 seconds but it seemed like ages.”