KUALA LUMPUR: The Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) climbers were fortunate to be given a second chance at life as they managed to escape the 7.8 magnitude earthquake which hit Nepal.
The team of five climbers lead by Azham Afzanizam Hamzah were on a climbing expedition at the Mount of Everest when the strong earthquake triggered a massive avalanche.
Azham Afzanizam Hamzah when contacted by the New Straits Times said the team was in safe condition and they are waiting for further instruction from the mountain guiders.
“We are safe… we have enough food supply and other necessities since we are planning to stay here for 3 months.
“Now we are still waiting for our guide at the camp, to give us instruction on the next course of action,” he said.
Sharing his experience on the moment when the deadly avalanche hit their base camp, Azham said, the team was waiting for their lunch inside the dinning tent when the country was hit by earthquake.
“We were waiting to have our lunch in the dining tent when the earthquake happened. We then ran outside and saw an avalanche of snow.
“Some of us ran back inside the tent while others hid behind a big rock near our base camp,” he said.
The strong earthquake yesterday struck Nepal, caused many climbers at Mount Everest to be caught as the Everest Base Camp was severely damaged.
Deputy Superintendent of police Chandra Dev Rai told AFP that there are about 300 climbers at the base camp however they are having problem to reach them as the phones are not working.