A British aid worker has described the confusion after he was mistakenly reported as having been rescued from the Nepal floods. Alastair Chambers, 45, from Gloucester, was in a village near the Trishuli river when he returned to Kathmandu via a humanitarian aid helicopter.
Upon arrival at an army barracks, a police officer requested his details and presumed he had been rescued. Chambers provided his information as per protocol, but later realized the misinterpretation. "News spreads - I was contacted by about 15 different journalists in the last few hours, just asking how I was and how I'm feeling after being rescued, and I had to say: 'Well sorry, I haven't been rescued,'" Chambers told the Press Association.
Nepal officials had announced on Tuesday that 119 people, including a British national, had been rescued by air. Chambers had traveled to Nepal the previous week after witnessing the devastation caused by flash floods and landslides that affected Nepal and Tibet, resulting in over 1,000 fatalities and 3,900 missing persons.
In London, the Foreign Office confirmed on Tuesday that 36 British citizens were unaccounted for, an increase from the previous figure of 33. Chambers had been working with volunteers to deliver essential supplies like sleeping bags, water purification tools, and food to communities isolated by damaged bridges. He described the conditions as hazardous, with frequent landslides and debris blocking roads, necessitating travel by helicopter.