While some families still wait to hear from their missing loved-ones in Nepal, a growing number are slowly but surely managing to communicate with their nearest and dearest.

They include Emma Ricca-Richardson, the mother of 18-year-old Phoebe who was in Nepal with a volunteer group.

Speaking to The Argus about the turmoil of not knowing if her daughter was safe, Emma, from Plumpton, said: “I began to panic and go through all the details she had left me about her trip, and tried to phone the organisation she is volunteering for, but had no luck getting through.

“I became hysterical at one point so I decided to keep busy to distract myself. Finally, on my way home I received a text on my phone. I cried out loud with a desperate hope it was good news.

“I read a text from Phoebe telling me that she was fine. I rang the number straight back and spoke briefly to her. It was such a relief to hear her voice.”

Meanwhile, Brighton man Thomas Drumm, 54, was still reported missing by yesterday lunchtime. His family in Ireland took to the press to appeal for information on his whereabouts.

Thankfully by yesterday afternoon his cousin David Drumm said he was relieved to hear from him after a week of no communication.

Posting on Facebook, he said: “Thomas has finally made contact very early this morning to say he is ok. He says things are crazy around him but people are getting on with life and he is hoping to get out of the area on Friday.”

Over the moon after girl says I’m OK

On Monday, The Argus also revealed how 24-year-old Brighton traveller Tara Bradshaw had phoned her mother in Sussex after being feared dead in Kathmandu.

Ms Bradshaw’s boyfriend Alex Parry told this newspaper he was “over the moon” that she was OK.

We also brought you the good news surrounding Keith Diplock, 71, who had left on a trekking holiday with his sister, Ann McNeil, 61, and brother John Diplock. Back at home in Uckfield on Sunday, his wife Rosemary received news they were all safe.

Friends and family of Paula Nightingale, from West Wittering, also announced on Sunday that the volunteer and former cruise ship director was safe.

Britons are being ‘left stranded’ by services

A DISTRAUGHT woman trapped on a mountain since the devastating earthquake in Nepal has begged her mother for help to come home.

Joanne Frusher, 36, and her fiancé Andrew Tucknott, 39, of Compton Road, Brighton, have been stuck on the mountain in the Langtang National Park following Saturday’s 7.8-magnitude quake and are running short of food and water.

The pair have told their families over anxious phone calls that people of other nationalities are being airlifted off the mountain – but Britons are being left behind because no help has come from UK rescue teams.

The news comes as the British Government was accused yesterday of not doing enough to help its people flee the devastated country, where more than 5,000 have died.

Joanne and Andrew’s family contacted Caroline Lucas, prospective parliamentary candidate for Brighton Pavilion, to ask why British nationals were not being helped.

A statement from the foreign office to the Green politician said: “Our current advice is that anyone who is in a safe place should stay there until it is safe to leave. At the moment only Nepali helicopters have permission to fly around Nepal. These helicopters have started to take people to places of safety and are currently focusing their efforts on the most vulnerable. Please rest assured that we will continue to be in close touch with the Nepali authorities on the humanitarian response across the whole of Nepal.”

Entire Nepalese villages have been wiped out and more than 1.4 million people are in need of food and water.

British and Irish medical staff, experts and volunteers have been dispatched to the worst-affected areas, with the RAF and firefighters from the UK International Search and Rescue Team (UKISAR) – including firefighters from West Sussex – involved.

The Sussex firefighters have been tasked with searching an area north of Kathmandu’s centre. As well as specially trained personnel and search dogs, the team has deployed more than 11 tonnes of equipment including cameras and listening devices. The UKISAR team is self-sufficient for up to ten days. The UK has pledged a £5 million package of support, including £3 million released under the Rapid Response Facility to address immediate needs on the ground and £2 million to the British Red Cross.

Disaster experts believe the earthquake will leave Nepal dependant on aid from countries such as the UK for years, and recovery from the devastation could take a decade.

12-month trip of a lifetime has now turned into a hell stuck on a mountain

ANDREW Tucknott and his fiancé Joanne Frusher were in the middle of a 12-month world trip when Saturday’s earthquake struck. It’s been a trip that has so far seen them travel through the likes of Sri Lanka and India before reaching their destination in Nepal.

They were on a ten-day mountain hike in the Langtang National Park when the earthquake struck.

The couple were lured to Nepal by its delicious offerings of snowy mountain faces and flower-scattered meadows, together with beautiful high-altitude lakes, Hindu-Buddhist pilgrimages and more.

Instead, they’re in the midst of a country cursed with untold devastation and death, trapped on the side of a mountain with no clear path out.

Food and provisions are running out - and now the pair are faced with drinking contaminated water as rations reach critical levels.

As well as a growing concern over a lack of food and water, Andrew says British people trapped in his make-shift camp are not being offered the chance to evacuate in helicopters.

Ray Tucknott, Andrew’s father, has spoken to his son twice since Saturday – albeit in brief phone calls that lasted less than 30 seconds each time.

Ray said: “In the two conversations I’ve had with Andrew he said there were three or four helicopters coming in to get people – but they were only taking their fellow countrymen and women. They weren’t injured, they were just selecting them based on nationality.

“That’s been my question to the British Foreign Office. Why aren’t we doing the same thing with our nationals? I’ve had three different conversations with the British Government, the British embassy in Nepal and the Red Cross and nobody knows what order things are happening.

“It’s all very vague. The Red Cross put me on to a missing persons number, but Andrew and Jo aren’t missing, we know where they are. They just need help.”

Like most people, Ray heard about the earthquake on Saturday. He knew roughly of Andrew and Joanne’s whereabouts in the Langtang trail – and also knew it was one of the worst-hit areas.

He said: “We were really concerned and that lasted until about Sunday, 24 hours later, when we got a phone call from Andrew. The line was shocking and you couldn’t hear much. It was one of those phone calls where I heard his voice for a few seconds and knew he was ok. On Monday he phoned again for a few seconds when he borrowed someone’s solar-powered mobile.

“He said he’s seen no provisions at all. They are in a make-shift camp with other hikers of different nationalities, sleeping under a sheet of canvas. There’s no mobile phone coverage in the area they’re in and they’ve lost their possessions, backpacks full of money, mobile phones and belongings.

“But he’s positive, he’s that sort of guy. His concern is that he’s going to have to drink piped water which everyone is saying you shouldn’t do because it’s contaminated. But they’re going to have to drink it soon because there’s nothing else.

“They’d always wanted to trek in Nepal. It was a bit of a goal for them. I think they were on a route called the Langtang trail. But they didn’t expect this.”

Together with their guide, Andrew and Joanne have tried to leave the mountainside on a few occasions, but they keep getting pushed back by obliterated roads, massive landslides and huge rocks.

Yesterday the UK Foreign Office confirmed a Briton living overseas had been killed in the earthquake – the first confirmed British victim so far.

Ray added: “It’s just too dangerous to leave. Ours and their concern is the unpredictable nature of not knowing when supplies will get there, or what the plans are to get them out.

“We’re in regular contact with Jo’s mother, who is very worried for her. Jo is a petit sort of build, quite small. If one of the two of them are going to suffer it will be her – and that’s what she’s worried about. Andrew is quite a fit guy and does a lot of sport so he should be ok.”

Asked what his message to the British government is, Ray said: “The first thing they need is aid. Even if it’s only water and food, and maybe sleeping blankets. Anything.

“Then they have to plan an airlift evacuation, because it could be months before they reopen the roads. That won’t happen in a few days.”

The Argus understands Jo’s mother received a message from the Foreign Office yesterday morning that suggested aid and provisions would be dropped on the mountain within days.

The Foreign Office said yesterday: “The UK Government is providing consular assistance to British nationals who have been caught in this disaster. We are urgently looking into ways we can assist further including help to get British Nationals out of Nepal.

“The situation on the ground is highly challenging. Basic telephone communication and infrastructure are severely disrupted.”

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond - speaking after he chaired a meeting of the Government's emergency Cobra committee - said about 120 British nationals would be flown home from Nepal yesterday evening.

An aircraft delivering UK aid to Nepal would return to Stansted bringing people home "sometime during the evening", he added.

Meanwhile, Nepal's Prime Minister Sushil Koirala said the death toll could eventually double, to more than 10,000. Eight million people have been affected by the disaster, according to the UN.