No word from Montrealer Frédéric Giasson after Nepal earthquake
Tracey Lindeman and Elias Abboud | CBC News | Posted: April 27, 2015 4:53 PM | Last Updated: April 28, 2015
Father says 20-year-old son was supposed to be near Mount Everest base camp on day of earthquake
Frédéric Giasson was on the Nepal stop of a trip around the world when a devastating earthquake hit outside of capital city Kathmandu over the weekend.
The 20-year-old Montreal man told father Antoine Giasson that he was preparing to head to Myanmar for a month on May 3. He has been on his trip since last July.
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But before that, the senior Giasson said, his son planned to head to Mount Everest with a pair of young men from Germany and the Czech Republic he had met on his travels.
The last time father Giasson and mother Stéphanie Gauthier heard from Frédéric was on April 5.
He told his parents he wouldn't have any method of communication during his trek to Everest.
Antoine Giasson said his son didn't share many of the intricacies of his trip in Nepal with his parents ahead of time.
"At this age they don't always tell everything to their parents," he said.
Because of his scheduled flight on May 3, Antoine Giasson said it's likely his son was somewhere between the base camp and Kathmandu at the time of the earthquake and avalanche.
The elder Giasson said he was away for the weekend without access to the internet or a television, and only understood the depth of the events in Nepal Monday morning.
He said he was optimistic his son would get in touch soon.
Earthquake triggers Everest avalanche
The death toll in Nepal and surrounding regions is at 4,000 and counting. The 7.8-magnitude earthquake was centred in Nepal's Gorkha region, northwest of capital city Kathmandu.
A 6.7-magnitude aftershock on Sunday caused more death and destruction in the region.
An avalanche on Mount Everest — which is northeast of Kathmandu — was triggered by the tremors.
April is high tourist season on Mount Everest.
Climber Alex Gavan is at Mount Everest and has been tweeting about the after-effects of the avalanche.