Dubai: A Gulf for Good team currently in Nepal for a charity trek to the Everest Base Camp is safe and unharmed after a strong earthquake that hit near Kathmandu on Saturday.

A 7.9-magnitude earthquake hit near Nepal’s capital, leaving at least 820 people dead and centuries-old temples in rubble. It is believed to be the worst tremor in the Himalayan nation in over 80 years.

A Dubai-based Gulf for Good team composed of nine volunteers is in Nepal from April 17 to May 1 to trek to the Everest Base Camp at 5,545 metres. The 12-day trek aims to raise funds to support Eco Children’s Farm Home, a self-sustaining farm and home for up to 45 Nepalese orphans, developed by Mission Himalaya.

“All the Everest base camp challenge participants are safe and sound. The group is currently in Labouche,” Tricia Evans — Strategy Governor, Gulf for Good, told Gulf News in a statement.

“We are closely monitoring the ongoing situation in conjunction with our partners on the ground in Nepal. The safety, security and well-being of all challengers is the most important priority for Gulf for Good.”

The team was on their eighth trekking day and was en route to Labouche — Gorak Shep along the Khumbu Glacier when the earthquake happened.

The killer quake triggered an avalanche and severely damaged the base camp where the team is headed on Sunday according to their itinerary. It is unclear what the team’s plans for now are.

Anne Edmonson, Gulf for Good Charity Governor and part of the team, posted on her Facebook at 1.30pm UAE time that they had just arrived in Labouche, a town just a few kilometres away from Mt. Everest.

“We have made it safely to Labouche ... quite a challenge getting here. We thought the snowstorm was going to be the main issue but in reality the bigger shock has been the massive earthquake we experienced,” Edmonson from the UK said.

“The earth literally shook underneath us, the hill beside us gave way and there were umpteen avalanches in the region. When we finally arrived in the village, some of the buildings had walls missing ... all very sobering,” she added.

Another participant, Joseph Ghosn, a procurement director from Lebanon, said on his Facebook post: “We are fine and staying in Labouche tonight. [I] don’t think [we] will climb to base camp. Hope there will be survivors after today’s avalanche.”

Other members of the trekking team include British expatriates Paul Cracknell, a landscape architect; Martin Hope, a technical director; Matthew Lawson, a senior assurance executive; Lizzy Pudner, a director; Taran Vernon, a registrar; and Indian expatriates Varun Mohan, a student, and Shikha Kanojia, an external auditor.