A YOUNG Daylesford family and local teenager who were found safe and well in earthquake ravaged Nepal are neighbours who ended up in the disaster-zone on separate adventures.
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The Comber family and Liam Oliver live on the same street in Daylesford, and were both scarily close to the 7.8 magnitude quake zone when it hit on Saturday.
After an agonising wait back home, their family members received news they were okay more than 24 hours after the disaster.
Francis and Jen Comber and their two young daughters Rani, 7, and Neve, 8, were in the remote Tsum Valley, near the Nepal-Tibet border.
They were about half-way through a 21-to-22-day trek when the quake hit, after leaving for an "Asian adventure" in June last year.
Relatives had been awaiting news when they got a phone call on Monday morning.
Mrs Comber's elated father Howard Brownscombe said his daughter had contacted a relative by phone to say she and her family were okay and would continue onto India.
Their tour operator also confirmed the family was alive, he said.
Ms Comber's sister-in-law Kate Good said the family were "all so happy".
Daylesford teenager Liam Oliver also called his parents from Nepal and told them he was safe.
The 18-year-old was unaccounted for all of Sunday; he was within a hundred kilometres from the epicentre.
His father Darren Oliver said Liam’s guide had kept the party safe during the 7.9-magnitude quake.
“Their guide got them down to a safe valley,” he said.
“(Liam and his two friends) will now wait it out for 48 hours, with the aftershocks, and then we’ll see about getting him home.”
The former Daylesford Secondary College student had been travelling with his aunt Dianne Coburn before the earthquake, but left her to meet with friends.
She contacted Mr Oliver on Sunday and had been planning to go and look for Liam in the Annapurna Valley during the week.
Liam called Daylesford about 6.30pm on Sunday. Mr Oliver said it was only by chance they were able to make the call.
“They saw someone walk past talking on a phone and they’ve managed to borrow it,” he said.
The earthquake on Saturday, the worst to hit Nepal in 80 years, came at peak climbing and trekking season in the Himalayas.
There are unconfirmed reports an Australian is among 3200 who have died as a result of the disaster.
Hundreds of Australians also remain unaccounted for.