Shropshire mountain climber still stranded on Everest after massive earthquake
A mountaineer from Bridgnorth who is stranded on Mount Everest has abandoned his climb following an earthquake which has killed more than 4,000 people.
Gareth Douglas wrote on his Facebook page that he has had to give up on his mission, saying it was not safe to continue.
Mr Douglas, 37, from Bridgnorth, was at Everest's north base camp when the quake struck at midday on Saturday.
So far, more than 4,000 people are thought to have died.
In a post on his Facebook page, Mr Douglas said he is relieved to be leaving Everest with his life.
He said: "As we might have expected our expedition has just been terminated. The Sherpas need to be with their families and we do not feel it will be safe to carry on without their exceptional strength and skill.
"We will try and retrieve our kit from ABC over the next couple of days then will attempt to get to Lhasa, then fly to Kathmandu and finally home.
"The only other thing we might stay for is to assist in Kathmandu.
"Very sad that all that time, training, planning and money came down to this end but at least we are leaving with our lives which is a lot more than can be said for the many others dead, missing or injured.
"I love all of you and can't wait to be reunited with my family."
His father Steve, who lives in Albrighton, said he had a 20-minute telephone conversation with him yesterday and had also been communicating by email. He said his son was calm about the situation.
"Gareth told me to stress that they have been very lucky, they consider themselves very lucky they weren't on the mountain when it happened," he said.
"They are much better off in base camp north, than those at the south camp," said Mr Douglas, who lives in Albrighton.
Mr Douglas said it was not yet known whether the Gareth and his fellow climbers would be able to leave the camp by themselves, or would need to be assisted by the rescue services.
He said: "It is impossible to say, the situation is changing every few hours.
"There are Sherpas up there, and they are very well respected. They will try to get out through the north, towards China, and the Europeans will try to go out through that way too."
He said there was also a group from the British Army who were trapped.
"They asked for volunteers to help with the rescue effort once they were free, and Gareth offered to help, but I understand that all the roads back into Kathmandu are no longer passable, and the borders have been closed," he said.
Mr Douglas said his son described how rocks "the size of cars" came crashing down within 1,000ft of him.
The 7.8 magnitude quake struck Nepal before noon on Saturday and was most severely felt in the capital and the densely-populated Kathmandu Valley.
Three members of West Midlands Ambulance Service are joining Shrewsbury paramedic Peter Old in travelling to Nepal to help with the rescue mission.
Medical incident officer Dr Malcom Russell, who also works with Mercia Accident Rescue Service in Herefordshire, flew out on Sunday. Steve Watkins, from Stoke-on-Trent, is a member of the Search and Rescue Assistance In Disasters (Saraid) charity, while Simon Greenfield, who is a paramedic based at Oldbury in the Black Country, flew out yesterday.
A spokesman said: "As a trust we are pleased to be able to release these staff, who have specialist training, to be part of these organised response teams."
Mr Old, who worked as a paramedic with Shropshire Ambulance Service before joining the rescue charity Serve On.
