Nepal trekkers stuck for two days without heat and power

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-29695757

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A group of trekkers have reached an area of safety after being caught up in snow storms in Nepal.

The three brothers-in-law from the East Midlands were stuck 16,000 ft (5,000m) up in the Himalayas for almost two days after the bad weather hit.

They had been just a few days into their 200-mile charity trek when avalanches forced them to stop and eventually abandon their challenge.

John Holmes, 63, from the group said they were "grateful" to be safe.

Mr Holmes, from Duffield, Derbyshire, had been trekking around the Annapurna Circuit with Howard Beedle, 69, from Derbyshire and Paul Deasy, 62, of Deeping St James, Lincolnshire.

'Very silly'

"As the conditions worsened we couldn't go any further," said Mr Holmes, a retired teacher.

"There had been a landslide a little way above us and it was believed several people had been killed.

"It was tough because we had no power and very little heat except a little stove burning yak muck.

"It was very cold indeed as temperatures dropped to -15oC at night."

The group had been hiking in memory of Mr Holme's daughter Phillipa who died from an undiagnosed heart condition in 2009.

After two days without heat and light the group were led to safety by their guides.

Mr Holmes said: "It was a bit of a pilgrimage and we are really sad not to have made the whole thing but it would have been very silly and risky for us to carry on.

"We are very well and back in the warm and very grateful that we have been looked after."

They will return home on 29 October.

Nepalese authorities said at least 39 people have died in the storms and 150 have been injured.

The Foreign Office said it had no information so far that any Britons were among the casualties.