QUAKE-NEPAL/US VICTIM UPDATE Romanian mountaineer recalls US filmmaker killed on Everest

Record ID: 157093

  • Title: QUAKE-NEPAL/US VICTIM UPDATE Romanian mountaineer recalls US filmmaker killed on Everest
  • Date: 27th April 2015
  • Summary: PLOIESTI (60 KM NORTH OF BUCHAREST), ROMANIA (APRIL 27, 2015) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Romanian) ROMANIAN MOUNTAINEER MARIUS ILIESCU, SAYING: "Tom (Tom Taplin) was in the base camp to make a film (with the title Base Camp) about its history. It should have been started with first Everest climbers in 1920 from Nepal and Tibet. For this year he chose the Nepal side. He was loo
  • Embargoed: 12th May 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Nepal
  • Country: Nepal
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA66GGL7XCKSKV7UD42KHDHCI0X
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Romanian mountaineer Marius Iliescu on Monday (April 27) paid tribute to U.S. filmmaker Tom Taplin who was killed in an avalanche on Mount Everest caused by the Nepal earthquake.
    Iliescu was part of a Romanian crew 'Expeditia Everest 2015' and filmed Taplin making his documentary at the Everest base camp with Iliescu's colleague, Romanian mountaineer, Zsolt Torok.
    A 61-year-old Santa Monica documentary maker, Taplin was well regarded by his fellow mountaineer who was with him in Nepal just two weeks before he died.
    "He gained my sympathy with his charm, with his knowledge, with his kindness. He knew how to combine his professional skills as a filmmaker with his experience as an alpinist. He showed me a lot of pictures he made from all over the world. He was full of life, 61-years old, and he energised and inspired people around him. You felt that when you're with him, you could do a lot of things. A nice man, he always a smile on his face, always wanted to help to create a pleasant atmosphere in that very cold and not very friendly place."
    Iliescu described why Taplin was at Everest base camp.
    "Tom (Tom Taplin) was in the base camp to make a film (with the title Base Camp) about the history of it. It should have been started with first Everest climbers in 1920, at both parts: Nepal one and Tibet one. For this year he choose Nepal part. He was looking for different subjects for his film, various alpinists trying to reach the top of the mountain. That's how we became friends: he interviewed Zsolt Torok, a Romanian alpinist."
    Iliescu left Nepal 30 minutes before the earthquake struck. Torok survived the earthquake and avalanches and was still on Everest, waiting to be evacuated.
    "I feel that once again, I've been lucky not to have been hit by nature's hostility. But other people have been hit. I'm not thinking so much about me, what I would do if I had remained there. I'm thinking about those people who are there, still in a critical situation. News coming is still alarming, it's very difficult for people there," Iliescu said.
    International aid has finally begun to arrive in the Himalayan nation of 28 million people, as the death toll topped 3,900 people.
    About 6,500 more people were injured in Nepal's most deadly quake in 81 years. It triggered a huge avalanche on Mount Everest that killed at least 17 climbers, including foreigners, the worst single disaster on the world's highest peak.
    A series of aftershocks, severe damage from the 7.9 magnitude quake, creaking infrastructure and a lack of funds have slowed the disbursement of aid to those most in need.
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