Nepal earthquake hits close to home for Berwick mother

A Nova Scotia mother is watchingdevelopments in Nepal with much concern for her son, who was travelling in that nation when the disastrousearthquake struck.

Berwick resident Peggy Melanson says her son Mitchell Pineo went to Nepal for a music festival andhiking.

• Nepal earthquake death reaches nearly 1,200
• Nepal earthquake: what we know
• Canadians among Mount Everest climbers hit by quake, avalanche

She says he and four friends from Halifax were in the capital of Kathmandu when the quake rocked the city.

Melanson says she was lucky enough to hear about the disaster from her son first.

"He had texted me this morning, so I got up and had a text, and then I turned on the news and went 'oh my goodness,'" she said. "I'm so glad he texted me before I turned on the news."

Melanson said the 23-year-old told her just about everything in the city has shut down and the army has been sent in.

She says her nerves haven't calmed down much since hearing from him.

"I've been very anxious since then. He had texted me, it was 5:30 my time, and very anxious, just so anxious because you see the news. It's so horrific and that's what they're in the middle of," Melanson said.

Pineotold her there was limited cell phone service and signs of the disaster everywhere.

"He said the conditions are bad. There's bodies around, buildings collapsing, they're rationing water, it's just mayhem. He described it as a war zone," Melanson said.

She says the group plan to stay where they are for the time being. He told her it's too expensive to travel right now and not much is moving.

"He was happy to be safe and sound," Melanson said. "He was, I think, running on adrenaline. It was hard to hear sometimes, you could hear lots of chaos in the background."

In the short term, she says Pineo and his friends will be sleeping outside because of the continuing aftershocks.

The government of Canada says for emergency consular assistance, Canadians in Nepal should call + 977 (1) 444-1976 or sos@international.gc.ca.