Plymouth Family Makes Contact With Daughter Hiking In Nepal
DETROIT (CBS DETROIT) - Christine Bedenis chose to do some trekking in Nepal after a recent Peace Corps stint in Asia.
Her father, Timothy Bedenis, told WWJ he hadn't heard from his 27-year-old daughter Christine since Friday, but given the remoteness of her location, that's not necessarily concerning news.
"We were not expecting to hear from her anyways," said Timothy. "So, the fact that she's not in communication it's not too much of a concern because she couldn't communicate with us where she's at anyways."
But hours later - good news came in the form of an email and Facebook message from Christine, amidst the aftershocks of a 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Nepal.
Katherine Bedenis of Plymouth says her 27-year old sister Christine escaped injury.
"She said that she felt some tremors - she was by a river and saw some landslides on the other side of the river," said Katherine. "But she ... was not harmed."
Christine was in the Annapurna Circuit, not at the epicenter, but still in the quake zone. "It was the not-knowing that was kind of hard to deal with," said her sister.
Katherine says her sister will likely continue her worldwide trek, arriving home in June.
Locally, Dr. Richard Keidan, founder of Detroit to Nepal, whose mission is improving public health and educational opportunities in Nepal, is keeping a close eye on the developments in Nepal.
Keidan calls the country a "hot zone" for the natural disaster.
"It's a very common phenomenon, this is compounded with the effects more devastating when the population like Kathmandu are so dense and the construction of a lot of the older buildings are not at a standard that would be similar to ours. So the affects can be much more devastating," said Keidan.
An avalanche triggered by a massive earthquake swept across Nepal's Mount Everest region on Saturday, killing at least 10 climbers and guides, slamming into a section of the mountaineering base camp, and leaving an unknown number of people injured and missing, officials said.
Detroit to Nepal was already working on previous damage when this quake hit.
Meantime, 19-year old Ypsilanti resident Owen Cousino is safe in Nepal--his church says Owen contacted family last night.
At least three other people with Michigan ties were said to be in Nepal over the weekend--their statuses aren't yet known.
Officials in Nepal are calling Saturday's earthquake the deadliest in over 80 years with the death toll passing 4,000.