UK aid worker says he was mistaken for survivor in Nepal

Alastair Chambers, a 45‑year‑old aid worker from Gloucester, described being mistaken for a survivor of Nepal’s flash floods after officials announced his rescue erroneously. Chambers said he returned to Kathmandu aboard a humanitarian helicopter from a settlement near the Trishuli River. Upon landing at the service barracks, a police officer approached him for his details and then assumed he had been rescued. He recounted, “I got dropped disconnected astatine the service barracks, and erstwhile I got dropped disconnected 1 of the constabulary officers came up to maine and asked for my details. Then they presumed that I'd been rescued. It's been a spot of a weird one, really.” Nepal authorities announced on Tuesday that 119 individuals, including a British national, had been evacuated using aerial assets. Chambers noted he provided his information to police in compliance with procedure, only to discover later that they believed he had been among those rescued. “News spreads - I was contacted by astir 15 antithetic journalists successful the past fewer hours, conscionable asking however I was and however I'm feeling aft being rescued, and I had to say: 'Well sorry, I haven't been rescued.'” He had flown to Nepal the previous week after witnessing the disaster that struck Nepal and neighbouring Tibet, which claimed more than 1,000 lives and left 3,900 people unaccounted for. In the House of Lords on the same day, Under‑Secretary of State at the Foreign Office Lord Wood of Anfield reported that 36 British citizens remained unaccounted for, an increase from the earlier figure of 33. The Foreign Office has been approached for comment. Chambers explained that he has been working with volunteers to distribute sleeping bags, water‑purification kits, food and other essentials to communities isolated by collapsed bridges, reaching them by helicopter. He warned, “It's rather dangerous, and we've got a batch of landslides, trees crossed the roads successful beforehand of us,” highlighting the ongoing hazards posed by landslides and debris.