Britons arrive back home as British father of three named among dead
BRITONS who were left stranded in earthquake-hit Nepal have started to return to the UK as the death toll from the disaster continued to rise.
More than 100 UK nationals were reunited with loved ones in emotional scenes, after landing back on home soil at Stansted Airport yesterday.
Meanwhile, the Foreign Office said that a British dualnational killed in the disaster was Hemchandra Rai, 42, a married father-of-three who lived in Hong Kong.
Reports that a Briton had been killed at Mount Everest base camp were still being investigated.
Two Foreign Office teams were dispatched to help UK nationals outside the capital Kathmandu yesterday.
More than 11,000 people have been injured in the disaster, as amazing stories of survival continued to emerge.
DEC chief executive Saleh Saeed said: “People in the UK have, once again, shown their generosity by responding to help those whose lives have been devastated by disaster.”
International Development Secretary Justine Greening said Britain is to give another £5m of support to the rescue efforts.
The additional help brings the total UK response to the earthquake to £15m, said Ms Greening.
An RAF C-17 aircraft arrived in Nepal yesterday carrying a team of Gurkha engineers and 18 tonnes of crucial supplies, including shelter kits and solar lanterns.
Meanwhile, Nepalese soldiers from the Brigade of Gurkhas who were marching in London to commemorate their 200 years of service to the British armed forces said they stood by their people.
Gurkha Major Dev Gurung said: “As a regiment and as a nation, we have suffered this natural disaster of unthinkable magnitude.
“Of course, the road will be long but we are very hopeful that we will prevail.”
But the sister of a yoga student stranded in Nepal has criticised the British embassy’s response to her plight as “useless”.
Susannah Ross, 20, was trapped in the remote Bamboo Village, Langtang National Park, for five days with a group of trekkers..
Miss Ross, from Bath, Somerset, was finally evacuated by helicopter, then taken to a military base .
Her sister Nina Ross, 25, said: “When I last talked to them (the embassy) they were as useless as ever.”
Nepal’s prime minister Sushil Koirala has said the death toll could eventually rise to more than 10,000.