advertisement

Clare People Caught Up in Nepal Appeal For Support

A young Ennis woman who was caught up in the devastating earthquake in Nepal has appealed for members of the public for support to help people on the ground there.

- Advertisement -

The quake killed thousands of people, including dozens in the high mountainous village of Talamarang where Melanie Hennessy helped establish an orphanage in recent years.

Melanie Hennessy from Cloughleigh in Ennis was in the orphanage when the earthquake hit on Saturday morning.

A rock fell on her leg during the tremor, though she is OK.

A number of people in the area were killed, however, and the remote region is now without power or communications

Melanie used the last of her phone battery to post a message online, appealing for the public to support the Draiocht NUIG society that she set up in 2008 to generate funds to build the orphanage.

Today, on Clare FM's Morning Focus, her sister Kim spoke of how people there are now in need of even more immediate help saying they have no supply of clean water and there's fears that infection will spread.

Twenty miles away in the capital Kathmandu, aid has begun to reach people but one man on the ground there says the response is too slow.

Mountaineer Ian Taylor, a former manager of Lahinch Seaworld, was leading an international group to Everest base camp and was in Kathmandu when the earthquake occurred.

Speaking via Skype this morning, he's told Clare FM that the scale of the devastation is enormous saying "there's bodies on the ground in the city not too far from where I'm sitting. There's three main exits out of this hotel, two of them are totally blocked off".

Authorities admit there have been mistakes in the response to the disaster so far.

Heavy rain hit the region this morning, making emergency shelter even more of an acute priority.

More than 5 thousand people are confirmed dead, but many fear that number could double in the days ahead.

advertisement
advertisement
advertisement