A rescue crew searches debris for victims of Saturday’s earthquake in Kathmandu, Nepal, April 28, 2015.DANIEL BEREHULAK/The New York Times
Canadians who are missing or stranded in Nepal or who have loved ones there say they have had to become their own detectives as they search for information about how to get help after the weekend's devastating earthquake.
The Canadian government, they say, has left them with little information and relying on Americans or well-connected strangers.
Lisa Glowacki of Vancouver said as soon as she heard news of the quake, she began to reach out to authorities to find out whether her sister was dead or alive. Her sister, Barbara Rose-Lovett, a nurse practitioner working in Nepal, was due to leave the country just hours before the earthquake hit. She has been in the village of Lapa since February, training villagers in basic health care for the organization Himalayan HealthCare.
Glowacki quickly learned that Lapa – located in the Dhading District, Northwest of Kathmandu, according to the organization's web site – was among the hardest hit. On Monday night, Glowacki finally received an email response from the Canadian consul's office telling her she could expect a response to her query within three business days.
"If it wasn't so serious it would be laughable."
So far, all of the information that Glowacki has is third-hand.
She said Anil, Himalayan Healthcare's man on the ground in Kathmandu has been her only point of contact. From him, Glowacki learned that there had been a flight that took three evacuees out of the village.
"Someone on that flight passed onto Anil that Barb is OK," she said. "Her house has collapsed. They don't have any shelter. They are living outside and eating food that's still in the community… in the gardens."
In Nepal, Canadians Mark McDermott and Roel Teunissen were hoping to get on a military transport plane on Wednesday to return to home from the earthquake-ravaged country. But McDermott said Tuesday they've now been told the plane will only take evacuees to New Delhi, where they'll have to find commercial flights home on their own.
That would leave them in a worse situation than they currently have in the U.S. embassy in Kathmandu, where his group and many others have gathered while they await their scheduled flight on May 17, he said. In New Delhi, however, they'd likely have to camp out at the airport.
The Canadian Forces said Tuesday that a C-17 transport plane carrying some personnel and supplies is scheduled to land in Kathmandu on Wednesday local time. It would also be able to fly up to 100 passengers to New Delhi once it is ready to leave. A second C-17 has left Canada carrying more equipment and people and is expected to be in Nepal on Thursday.
McDermott said neither he nor Teunissen will go to New Delhi, and they haven't heard of any other evacuation efforts. He added there's been a dearth of information from Canadian officials.
Teunissen said once they were able to contact the Canadian consulate after the quake, the honorary Canadian consul told them it was a very big emergency and they weren't equipped to handle it at the consulate. He said the honorary consul, a Nepalese man, told them to seek help elsewhere.
However, the honorary consul's assistant in Kathmandu told The Canadian Press by telephone early Tuesday that he "doubted the consul would have said that."
On Monday, when Foreign Affairs Minister Rob Nicholson was asked about stories of Canadians being turned away from the consulate when they sought information, he responded that he has instructed the honorary consul there "to work with these individuals on a 24-hour basis to get them the help that they need."
The department did not respond Tuesday to questions about the number of Canadians stranded or missing in Nepal.
Canadian officials have now arrived in Kathmandu and are helping with emergency travel documents and other assistance, Foreign Affairs said Tuesday. They have established a service point at the Phora Durbar American Club in central Kathmandu.
Other Canadian diplomats are standing by in New Delhi to help evacuated Canadians.
In the meantime, an email from Foreign Affairs to Canadians in Nepal said they should "consider leaving using available commercial means." It said Canadian officials "are working on plans to assist Canadians who are unable to leave via commercial means and require evacuation using DND flights."
After leaving the Canadian consulate, McDermott said they called the U.S. Embassy, which arranged a drive over, a place to sleep, food and the ability to communicate with family and friends. They've been told they can stay until their flight mid-May.
Kandy Barker said her nephew, Fraser, was also initially turned away by Canadian officials in Kathmandu as he sought news of his parents, who haven't been heard from since the earthquake struck. But he is scheduled to meet with officials today, she said.
Bruce and Kathy Macmillan, of St. Albert, Alta., were trekking in the Langdang region and were supposed to meet up with their two adult sons in Kathmandu on Monday, she said.
Talking to officials in Ottawa hasn't proven any more helpful, Barker said. Her sister called a government hotline for people whose relatives are still unaccounted for and got a "standardized, formatted" message, she said.
"The government told her, 'Go to social media and put the name out on Facebook and Twitter,"' Barker said. "OK, we've done that, but we need more from the government."
- With files from The Canadian Press