MEGHAN Markle’s father has insisted he is not trapped in the Philippines – despite his daughter Samantha claiming he was stuck on the 19th floor of his apartment after a deadly earthquake.
Thomas Markle, 81, declared he is “fine” and urged people not to worry after fears swept social media that he was unable to leave his home.
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“Please don’t worry about me, everything is okay,” he said – before thanking “everyone” for their concern.
The reassurance came after Meghan’s half-sister Samantha Markle sparked alarm by posting online that their father was unable to walk and had been left stranded following the 6.9-magnitude quake.
Samantha Markle had written on X: “My father is stuck on the 19th floor of a building in the Philippines after a massive earthquake and he can’t walk and he is trapped.”
She gave no details about why Thomas is supposedly trapped – or whether the earthquake inflicted any damage to his apartment.
But US outlet TMZ has since spoken with Thomas, who stressed he is “safe in his hotel room” and in no way “trapped” or “unable to walk”. He added: “The epicenter was 100 miles from here.”
The former Hollywood lighting director has been living in an apartment in the building on Cebu with his son Thomas Markle Jnr, 58, in recent months.
The quake struck around 12 miles off the coast of Bogo, on Cebu, just before 10pm on Tuesday evening – inflicting damage across the north of the island.
At least 69 people are dead and over a hundred more injured after many homes collapsed and landslides buried buildings.
Samantha, 60, is locked in a long-running feud with Meghan and is known for her often erratic behaviour.
She set her X profile to private after the post but issued an update later on: “I wish to extend our deep gratitude to everyone expressing concern about my father. Thank you.
“As of today he is OK , and making plans to get out out of that building. They seem to be safe for now, and hopefully there will be no serious aftershocks.
“Provisions are being made so that he won’t be trapped in a similar situation again. God bless and stay safe everyone!”
Thomas has suffered a range of health problems in the past.
He moved 7,500 miles from his Mexico home to live with his son in the Philippines in January this year.
The pair reportedly stayed in a three star hotel before renting their high rise flat just yards from a busy seven-lane main road.
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He was recently pictured resting alone in the blistering heat outside a supermarket near his new home in May this year – just a day after his grandson Prince Archie’s sixth birthday.
An unknown number of people are still trapped beneath rubble on the island of Cebu, with rescuers in a race against time to free them.
Army troops, police and civilian volunteers were deployed alongside sniffer dogs this morning in house-to-house searches for survivors.
Around half the deaths were recorded in Bogo, a north-eastern coastal town of 90,000 people, and the toll is expected to rise, officials said.
Some died nearby when a landslide buried a shanty mountain village.
Twelve others were killed in Medellin town after ceilings and walls of houses gave way.
And five people, including three coastguards and a firefighter, died in San Remigio when a basketball game was disrupted.
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