Nepal earthquake victims not helped by 'callous' Foreign Office, says Briton
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Version 0 of 1. The family of a British man stranded in a remote part of Nepal have criticised the Foreign Office for not doing enough to rescue their son, amid claims that helicopters that rescued Japanese and Israeli nationals from the area left others behind. Jonathan Blott, 24, from Kirkham, Lancashire, has been trapped along with his German girlfriend, at least one other Briton and a number of other holidaymakers in the Langtang Valley, 40 miles north of Kathmandu, since a 7.9-magnitude earthquake struck Nepal on Saturday. With many of Langtang’s villages destroyed, roads out of the area blocked, and continuing landslides, including one on Tuesday which has left 250 unaccounted for, fears are growing for those left behind in the area. Related: 'No one has come': Nepal villagers wait for aid to flow beyond the capital Anger at the Foreign Office response has been compounded by reports on Twitter, as yet unconfirmed, that helicopters arrived in Langtang Valley to rescue Israeli and Japanese trekkers – but left behind those of other nationalities. John Blott, Jonathan’s father, told the Guardian that he had been able to get the coordinates of his son’s location and had given the details to the Foreign Office, but had no news as to what they were doing to help his son. “The problem we have is that the Foreign Office aren’t telling us anything. I don’t know if they are doing anything and if they were doing something we assume they would be telling us about it,” Blott said. Blott added that after begging the Foreign Office to send food and supplies to his son and other stranded Britons in Langtang, an official simply told him to inform Jonathan to make his way to the British embassy. “This is how callous they are,” he said. Jonathan, who had just finished a masters degree in neuroscience at UCL, and his girlfriend, who preferred not to be named, were holidaying in Nepal after finishing their studies. They had only been in the country a week when the earthquake struck. Blott said he last heard from his son on 14 April. After hearing of the disaster on Saturday, he immediately called the Foreign Office’s Nepal hotline - only to be kept waiting on hold for nearly an hour and a half. When the department answered, an official said his son’s details would be put on a database. On Sunday evening, Blott heard the news he had been waiting for – his son was still alive and well and at a guest house in a town called Rimche. But landslides have left them unable to leave the area, which has been badly affected by the earthquake. “We discovered, from a girl in India, that her sister was with my son on a trek in the Langtang Valley and had been able to use a satellite phone to make a brief call to say they were OK,” Blott said. “We had been told by the FCO that if we learned his whereabouts we were to phone the Foreign Office, so we telephoned their Nepal hotline again and we were told his details would be put on a database.” The Foreign Office had not informed him of any attempts to reach Jonathan and his friends, Blott said. His disquiet has been made worse by reports that other countries had done much more to reach their citizens stuck in the area. Deeply concerning to hear rescue mission picked up Japanese & Israelis from a camp & left rest. @foreignoffice must act @UKinNepal #langtang A tweet, which a friend of Jonathan, Rory Girvan, said was sent by the sister of another woman in the same group, said helicopters had arrived but only rescued Japanese and Israeli citizens. The claim is apparently backed up by a report in Israeli daily Ha’aretz which said 21 Israelis had been rescued from the Langtang Valley, and another tweet saying that Israeli relief teams were on their way to the area. What we thought was a rescue mission for all only picked up Israeli&Japanese. Sister&many others still stranded. Please come back to rescue Israeli relief team preparing to fly to #LangTang to rescue Israeli citizens. Jonathan and his friends are not the only British nationals currently stranded in Langtang. Susannah Ross from Bath, Somerset, is said to be with a group of 15 others stranded in the area and in desperate need of supplies. Ross’s sister, Nina, was quoted by MailOnline as saying that one of their group had managed to send a text message giving their coordinates and saying they are in need of food, water and medical help. She said: “They have said they need a helicopter to get out. All the roads around them are ruined and they can’t get out. We only found out five minutes ago and are frantically trying to work out a way of reaching her and getting her help.” Blott said he didn’t expect miracles from the British government, but he did expect that families of those stuck or missing in Nepal would be kept up to date with what was being done to rescue their loved ones. “They have done nothing,” he said. “Philip Hammond keeps talking about this emergency number, but the number is difficult to use and, having used it, it appears to be no help whatsoever. “There maybe something being done but I’ve no idea what.” The Foreign Office was contacted for comment but had made no reply at the time of publication. Fears are growing for those who are left among the ruins of the Langtang Valley, a popular spot for trekking holidays, after another landslide in the area left 250 unaccounted for. Foreign tourists may be among the missing in the avalanche, which hit the village of Ghodatabela, in Rasuwa district, at around noon local time on Tuesday. “This area is in a natural park which is popular with tourists. We are trying to rescue them, but bad weather and rainfall is hampering efforts,” the district governor, Uddhav Bhattarai, told Reuters. An FCO spokesperson said: “Foreign and Commonwealth Office staff are continuing to work round the clock with the local authorities and tour operators, as well as visiting hospitals, hotels, the airport and tourist locations to identify and assist British nationals in Nepal. We have helped over 250 British people and stand ready to assist more and their families as necessary. “At the weekend the volume of calls received was very high and some callers were having to wait to get through. We increased the number of people answering calls and there should no longer be any wait.” |