Joy as three WA friends found safe in Nepal
Three WA teenagers missing in earthquake-shattered Nepal have been found.
Jalada Wilson, 18, Rin Hutcheson, 19, and Raoul Poncin, 19, were on the Asian trip of a lifetime when disaster struck at the weekend, leaving more than 4000 dead.
They were in the Langtang area of Nepal.
Their families had failed to make contact.
Raoul's father posted on Facebook tonight that the trio was safe.
"GREAT NEWS, GREAT NEWS," he wrote.
"Raoul Poncin, Jalada Wilson and Rin Hutcheson are safe but cannot get out of the Langtang area.
"They are in a place called Syabrubesi and all roads are blocked.
"Soon they will be picked up!!:)
"A very happy dad here "Thanks to all for your support!
"Peace, Freddy Poncin."
Speaking to The West Australian Mr Poncin said he was overjoyed at the news.
“Rin managed to have a 20 second conversation with his family to say they are fine, but they are stuck in the village (of Syabrubesi),” Mr Poncin said.
“His family got in touch with me immediately. I was relived because I haven’t had a good sleep over the past three nights.”
“They can’t get out because the roads are blocked,” Mr Poncin said.
Jalada Wilson’s mother Ida flew to Kathmandu today to arrange a way for the three boys to get out.
Mr Poncin said his son had been travelling for the past six weeks and intended to go to India after Nepal.
“I want him to do what he wants to do,” he said.
“If he decides he wants to go to India and feels brave enough and safe enough he can, but if he wants to come home that’s fine.”
Yesterday, Jalada's father Ian Wilson said the wait was excruciating. "The days since the earthquake have been sleepless and exhausting - and there is nothing we can really do but wait, and hope."
Jalada's mother Ida Hamida had been planning to travel to the quake zone to search for their son. "Be safe, son. Contact us, please," she said.
But Dr Wilson said he would be staying in WA, and staying by the phone for now. "I don't want to be another foreigner using up what would already be massively stretched resources," he told _The West Australian. _
Raoul's father Freddy said he was desperately hoping the boys were trekking in an area far enough away from the quake zone to leave them safe and cut off, because of the devastation to communication lines.
"We are just hoping they were past the point where they might have been in danger but there are just so few details at the moment," Mr Poncin said.
"The pictures of the devastation are horrible, and our hearts go out to all those who have been affected. But we would love some good news."
And like hundreds of thousands of others Toko Hutcheson, sister of renowned skateboarder Rin, reached out to social media in a bid to find her brother.
"We are not implying they are missing," Toko wrote.
"We just want to know if they are OK."
By contrast, the family of Anna Speirs signalled she had been found amid the chaos with just three words in an online posting: "Anna is alive."
Organisers of spiritual development program Monk for a Month were tentatively confident that WA woman Lisa Mirtsopoulos - who was taking part in the program in Nepal - was safe.
Tim Clarke
