Monday, April 27, 2015

EARTHQUAKE IN KATHMANDU

I landed in Kathmandu, Nepal on 22 Apr '15 to attend the FIA Sport Regional Congress at Everest Hotel.  For the next few days, there were numerous interruptive power cuts.  Some attendees of the congress were joking among themselves, predicting when the next stoppage would occur. But none of us would ever imagine the power cut on 25 Apr '15 to be so horrifying.  It happened at 11:56 am, when the floor began to tremble.  This was followed by strong sways causing people to panic and scream.  At that moment, I was in the hotel function hall together with more than 30 attendees from various countries. Many of them ran for the door instantaneously while few of us crawled under the tables. In between the panicky moments, all of us managed to get out of the hotel and we ran towards the streets where vehicles have come to a halt and terrified locals were everywhere.

At a nearby hospital, patients were evacuated from the building for safety reason.

The tremors continued intermittently.  At around 12:30 pm, our host from Nepal then moved us away from the streets to an open ground behind the hotel.

 We were grateful for snacks, drinks and chairs arranged by our host. For the next few hours, we 'camped' at the open ground and, while waiting for further instruction from our host, we talked with each other to keep our worries at bay.

 By 5:00 pm, it was getting dark and chilly.  We were allowed to enter the hotel building where the staff had checked and swept the debris aside.

 All of us scrambled up the stairways to collect our belongings from the rooms.  Our host then provided cars and rushed us to the airport.  Along the way, I witnessed more locals who feared for their own safety and filled open spaces outside buildings.  Our driver had to pay extra attention to avoid the crack lines on the roads!

 The scene at the airport was no better.  It was crowded, chaotic and, to our disappointment, the terminal building was closed. (We later learnt from an unconfirmed source that part of the runway may have been damaged.)  Fortunately, our host managed to convince the airport authority to allow us into the waiting lounge.  Here's a picture of the deserted departure area. 


 Just as we felt a little more settled, a series of aftershocks got us panicking again, particularly the ones at 1:00 am and 5:00 am.  At 6:00 am, I stepped out of the terminal building and saw thousands of people scattered around the airport compound.

 Meanwhile, we continued to experience more aftershocks.  Our host tried to bring us breakfast but only managed to get drinking water and fruits - a clear sign that the city is not operating business as usual.  Around 10:00 am, we were advised to have our luggages scanned by the security at the departure gate so we could proceed to check in for our flight.  There was hardly any control at the gate but glad we managed to squeeze through.

 As expected, we encountered further problems such as delay at check-in counter and lack of information on flight gate, boarding etc.  But the main chaos must be the strong aftershock which occurred at 1:00 pm measuring 6.7 on the Richter Scale.  Passengers ran for the tarmac and waited in the open.  With such large crowd and assortment of planes (both commercial and military), the scene at Tribhuvan International Airport could be mistaken as an Air Show.

To have to work in such conditions and handle the unusually large volume of traffic, including airlifted aids from Singapore, India, US and other neighboring countries, the airport staff are truly commendable.  My gratitude to our host Nepal Automobile Sports Association - particularly to General Secretary Govinda, Secretary Sushil (see in below picture) and their fellow colleagues who never failed to place our safety as priority. 

May the people of Nepal find the strength and courage to rebuild itself.