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American Nepal earthquake survivors denied rescue by five helicopters

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An American couple was refused for not having travel insurance.

American Nepal earthquake survivors, stranded in a remote village, were denied rescuing from a total of five helicopters, because they didn't have travel insurance.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Della Hoffman and her boyfriend Eric Jean, an American couple from Colorado, spent five days waiting to be rescued after one of the worst earthquakes in Nepal's history.

According to Hoffman, they were trekking in the Langtang valley when the 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck, causing an avalanche of rocks.


In an interview with Daily Mail, Hoffman describes the boulders as falling from both sides, crushing homes and storefronts, and trapping the couple and 80 other people.

After the initial earthquake finished, Hoffman and Jean followed the villagers to a cave, where they took shelter.


Aftershocks continued throughout the first day, causing boulders to continuously fall.

"One of the trail guides got hit in the head but he was OK. However one of the villagers got struck by a rock and died," explained Hoffman. "A little while after we made it to the cave another tourist who was further down the trail joined us and he had a broken arm."

Using tarpaulins, the large group set up camp with a filtration device to draw drinking water from a nearby stream.

According to Hoffman, the tourists were able to strike deals with the villagers, with the little money they had, for provisions to get them through the next few days. "In another stroke of luck, some Israeli tourists had a satellite communication device, so on the second day we were able to message our families that we were OK."

However, it would be another three days before they would be rescued.

"Eventually we got ourselves together enough to build some makeshift helipads. We cleared areas of rubble, and used a raised bamboo platform to create a space for pilots to land."

First came a Japanese helicopter. "When the first helicopter landed it was a real high, we were thrilled that someone had come and we were going to get out."

"The pilots didn't want to land for long because it was dangerous so there wasn't a lot of time to take in what was happening, but we learned that they had only come for the Japanese tourists," continued Hoffman. "There were a lot of tears and frustration during the hours after they left. I couldn't believe they would just leave us there."

Over the next two days, four different helicopters landed and would not take Hoffman and her boyfriend.

Finally, a group of U.S. special forces were able to take them away, five days after the earthquake.

"We felt really lucky in a lot of ways. We were a lot more fortunate than a lot of people," said Hoffman. "Being back in Kathmandu and seeing the extent of the destruction we knew our trouble was over and we get to go home, but the native people do not."

At least 7,500 people have died during the earthquake. However, Nepal's prime minister expects the death toll to top 10,000 once rescuers reach the remote villages.

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