2 Maritimers head to earthquake-ravaged Nepal with Red Cross
Neil Bauman, of Saint John, and Janice Babineau, of Dartmouth, to join relief efforts
Two Maritimers are heading to earthquake-ravaged Nepal to help the Red Cross with relief efforts.
The Saturday quake, which registered 7.9 on the Richter scale, and the powerful aftershocks, have left more than 4,000 people dead, as many as 5,000 injured, and many more missing or homeless.
And Grand-Digue native Janice Babineau, who is based at the Red Cross' Dartmouth office, will be a member of the social media team at a field hospital, Bedell said.
Bauman just returned to Saint John a few days ago after assessing damage and shelter needs in the South Pacific island of Vanuatu, following Tropical Cyclone Pam last month.
He has deployed frequently with the International Federation of Red Cross-Red Crescent (IFRC) following other major disasters, including Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines in 2013, and the earthquake in Haiti in 2010.
Babineau was drawn from a pool of pre-screened personnel across the country, said Bedell.
They will join the relief efforts already underway, led by the Nepal Red Cross and its nearly 100,000 volunteers and staff, he said.
Governments and aid agencies from around the world pledged assistance over the weekend.
Canada said it would contribute $5 million to relief efforts and dispatch its Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART), a military team designed to deploy on short notice to deal with natural disasters or humanitarian emergencies.
The weekend earthquake was the worst Nepal has seen since 1934, when 8,500 people were killed.
It also triggered a deadly avalanche on Mount Everest.