Boxford father describes harrowing night spent waiting for news daughter was safe after Nepal earthquake

Volunteers carry the body of a victim on a stretcher, recovered from the debris of a building that collapsed (AP Photo/ Niranjan Shrestha)

Ms Carroll was travelling in the Kathmandu area with her boyfriend when the 7.9 magnitude disaster struck on Saturday and in the wake of the disaster her father John was unable to reach her.

He knew the former Great Cornard Upper School pupil had been staying in the city of Kathmandu where at least 1,900 people have died.

After a sleepless night, Mr Caroll, 59, and his wife got the news they had been waiting for, a short and simple message from Julia on Facebook.

“We got the message through Facebook at 4.50am,” Mr Carrol said. “It was a very brief message. It said they were both safe and well and they had been out white water rafting when the earthquake hit.”

In this photo provided by Azim Afif people approach the scene after an avalanche triggered by a massive earthquake swept across Everest Base Camp, Nepal (Azim Afif via AP)

At 11am his daughter, who had recently graduated with a law degree from Swansea University, got in touch again, this time from the British Embassy in Kathmandu.

Mr Carroll, who works as a civil servant, said: “We are incredibly relieved and very happy that they are okay. It has been a harrowing 24 hours.”

Julia had spoke to her father the day before the disaster struck, phoning to wish him a happy birthday. “She told me they were hoping to go white water rafting,” he said. “But they thought it might be cancelled because there were not enough people.”

Fortunately for Julia and her boyfriend, Tom Challis, the boating trip went ahead when another couple came forward.

A group of people gather outdoors as an earthquake hits Kathmandu city (AP Photo/ Niranjan Shrestha)

Mr Carroll said: “I knew anything could have happened and I hoped that they were on the river and outside Kathmandu.

“If the trip was cancelled, Kathmandu would have been a far more dangerous place to be. The whole time we couldn’t get in touch with her, I had this hope she was on the river.”

This morning he tweeted: “Just received message from my daughter Julia Carroll that she is alive and safe. Was rafting when #earthquake struck in #Nepal. Thank God.”

In another tweet, under username @daddymacJC, he thanked those who shared his appeals to find his daughter.

People walk past a building that was damaged in an earthquake in Kathmandu, Nepal (AP Photo/ Niranjan Shrestha)