The Duchess of Sussex’s estranged father has reportedly denied being “trapped and unable to walk” in a high rise block of flats after a deadly earthquake hit the Philippines.
Thomas Markle, 81, survived the 6.9-magnitude tremor, Meghan Markle’s half-sister said.
He later added: “Please don’t worry about me, everything is okay” before thanking well-wishers for their concern.
The ex-Hollywood lighting director has been living in recent months with his son Thomas Jnr, 58, in Cebu, a densely populated province.
At least 69 died as the earthquake cut power and damaging buildings on Wednesday. It was not immediately clear how many people were missing.
Bogo City hospital near the epicentre was “overwhelmed”, Civil Defence official Raffy Alejandro told reporters.
Samantha Markle posted on social media that her father was unable to leave his 19th floor apartment.
She said: “He can’t walk and he is trapped.”
US website TMZ said it spoke with Mr Markle who reassured reporters he is “safe in his hotel room and in no way is he ‘trapped’ and ‘unable to walk’”.
Meghan has been estranged from her father since around the time of her wedding to the Prince Harry.
Mr Markle made global headlines after he was caught staging paparazzi photographs in the days ahead of the ceremony on May 19 2018.
The Philippines lies in the Pacific “Ring of Fire” where volcanic activity and earthquakes are common. The country had two major quakes in January, with no casualties reported.
In 2023, a 6.7 magnitude offshore earthquake killed eight people.
