New Jersey woman among victims of earthquake in Nepal

EAST ORANGE, N.J. (WABC) -- A physician's assistant from New Jersey was among those killed in the earthquake in Nepal. Marisa Eve Girawong had been working in Nepal for a company called Madison Mountaineering that posted the news of her death on its website.

Girawong used to work at a hospital in East Orange. Hers was a life of helping others. Sadly, no one could protect her from the avalanche that followed the earthquake.

On Sunday, many families with ties to Nepal are frantic with worry. There is a desperate feeling of helplessness as they struggle to learn about their families, and their villages back home. For thousands, the news is grim, as the death toll continues to rise.

Melissa, who went by her middle name, Eve, worked as a physician's assistant in the East Orange Hospital emergency room. One coworker said Eve would offer to bring cookies to share. She also apparently loved mountain climbing, and may have thought she found the best of both worlds on top of the world - at Mt. Everest, where she provided medical care to climbers.

According to the company, Madison Mountineering, Eve perished in the aftermath of the avalanche the struck the base camp area following the devastating Nepal earthquake.

"Our hearts go out to the family of Eve Girawong. She is loved by all of us in base camp, and a great addition to our team and helped us tremendously," said Garrett Madison.

The earthquake, the aftershock and the avalanches, turned one of the most exquisite and exciting destinations in the world into mass ruin tonight. Panic and fear as workers search for survivors and bodies.

About a half-dozen other Washington outfits - including Alpine Ascents, International Mountain Guides and Rainier Mountaineering Inc. - had expeditions on or near Mount Everest when the earthquake struck, killing hundreds. The avalanche claimed more than a dozen lives.

By Saturday afternoon, most other companies reported everyone in their parties was safe.

The parties led by the Washington firms total dozens of climbers, Sherpas and porters. Guide Dave Hahn wrote on the website of Ashford-based Rainier Mountaineering that he was in a camp above the base camp when the avalanche struck, but others in his team, including guide Mark Tucker, were down below and had worked feverishly to help the injured.

"We got dusted" by the avalanche, Hahn wrote, but added: "We are hearing reports of some pretty destructive action down there, injuries and loss of life. ... We're hearing the strenuous efforts that our Sherpa team and Mark Tucker are going through down there trying to help with the injured and those who haven't fared so well."

Gordon Janow, director of programs for Alpine Ascents International, said from Seattle that his team had come through the avalanche unscathed. Their first goal was to deal with the devastation at base camp, he said, and they would then try to create new routes to help climbers stuck above the treacherous Khumbu Icefall. The icefall, which is just above base camp, is a key route up the lower part of Everest.

"Everybody's pretty much in rescue mode, but this is different from some independent climbing accident where people can be rescued and taken somewhere else," Janow said. Given the widespread damage in Kathmandu, he added, "I don't know where 'somewhere else' is."

Mountain Madness, another prominent Seattle guiding company, didn't have anybody at base camp, but they had a team of about 40 people - including 19 paying clients - in Namche Bazaar, a village at above 11,000 feet, on the way there. Two of the clients were to be married when they reached base camp, said Steve Guthrie, the company's international program director.

Damage in the village included fallen masonry and collapsed walls, but nobody in the team was injured, Guthrie said.

Some Sherpas and porters had family members who may have been injured in their own villages and planned to return: "We want them to be able to be with their families," Guthrie said.

The team moved into a one-story teahouse to spend the night and planned to re-evaluate in the morning as to whether they could be of any assistance. But Guthrie noted that the village is about four days by foot from base camp, and even if they were to go it's not clear how they could help.

(Some information from the Associated Press.)