Yorkshire woman reported missing in wake of Nepal earthquake believed to be safe and well

Laura Wood was trekking in the Himalayas when it was hit by a huge avalanche triggered by a 7.9 magnitude tremor on Saturday.

Miss Wood, said to be from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, was one of several Britons reported missing on Google’s Person Finder tool under a section entitled 2015 Nepal Earthquake.

She was described by a friend as a “glowing lovely beautiful young girl often dressed in hippy type clothing”.

But Sky News has reported this afternoon that the 23-year-old has made contact with her family and is safe and well.

Meanwhile, Sheffield travel firm Jagged Globe said it had yet to hear from several teams in Nepal, including British tourists set to climb mountains in the Himalayas.

They said in a statement last night: “We have received some information from Nepal. We have two teams in Kathmandu. They are our Mera Peak Expedition that left the UK on 3 April and our Annapurna Circuit team that started on 9 April. Members of these teams are safe in the Summit Hotel, Kathmandu.”

A spokeswoman for the Foreign Office told The Yorkshire Post that it could not confirm the names of the group of British tourists caught in the disaster, which buried part of the Mount Everest base camp.

“We will not be releasing names until we get a clearer idea of numbers,” she said.

Aid workers from across the world are on their way Nepal today to search for survivors and provide food and shelter.

Volunteers from from UK charity Search and Rescue Assistance in Disasters are heading to capital Kathmandu with 1.5 tonnes of specialist equipment to rescue people from collapsed buildings.

The quake was the worst in Nepal for 81 years, triggering tremors which extended as far as India, where the death toll stood at 53 and Tibet where at least 17 people were killed, according to reports.

Friends and families of the missing have been using Facebook and Google’s post-disaster search tool, Person Finder, to appeal for information.

Sebastian Lovera, from Tonbridge, is one of those still to get in touch with his family.

The 22-year-old’s stepfather, Greg Smye-Rumsby, said: “We haven’t heard from him. He would not have switched his phone off.”

Today survivor James Grieve, 52, who was climbing on the north side of Everest with a group from Help for Heroes and Children 1st when the avalanche struck, spoke of his lucky escape.

Mr Grieve, from Kinross in Fife, told The Sun: “You could feel Everest move. It was like a rocking motion.

“Snow and ice was coming down as the glacier shook. We were all covered in the snow but we weren’t packed in.

“It was very difficult to breathe. We had to pat ourselves down. We were lucky to survive.”