18 Oct 2014

Anxious wait for son of Nepal trekkers

6:28 am on 18 October 2014

The son of a Canterbury couple trekking in Nepal faces an anxious wait for word of his parents.

A Nepalese Army helicopter rescues survivors.

A Nepalese Army helicopter rescues survivors after the deadly blizzard in Nepal's Anapurna region. Photo: AFP / Nepal Army

At least 29 people died when a blizzard brought down avalanches on trekkers in the Anapurna region.

Others are missing and over 150 have been rescued.

Mike Hammock said his parents, Peter and Elizabeth Cammock, were trekking in the region and would have had to go over the pass where most of the fatalities happened.

But he said he believed they were some distance away at the time of the disaster and were probably just out of contact in a remote region.

Mike Cammock said his parents were expected to come out of the region in mid-November and he faces an uncertain time until he finds out more.

He said he had no reason to believe they had been harmed, but he was still concerned and felt slightly guilty about hoping his family was fine when so many others have lost their loved ones.

Peter Cammock was a Canterbury university academic who recently retired after 30 years on the faculty.

His wife Elizabeth is a survivor of the collapse of the CTV building in the 22 February earthquake in Christchurch.

Meanwhile, searching has been continuing in Nepal.

Mountain rescue teams, helped by clear weather and armed with shovels, ropes and ice axes, have been scouring an area buried under snow up to four feet deep for 10 hikers still missing.

Those killed by the unseasonable weather, brought by the tail end of a cyclone that struck India last weekend, included three Nepali herders, four Nepali guides, two people from Slovakia, three Israelis, three Polish citizens, four Canadians and three Indians.

The nationality of the others has not been confirmed.

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