Relief efforts in Nepal are intensifying after more than 2,000 people were killed in the worst earthquake there in more than 80 years.
Rescue missions and aid material have started arriving in the country. Seventeen people have been killed on Mount Everest by avalanches - the mountain's worst-ever disaster. Meanwhile a powerful aftershock was felt on Sunday in Nepal, India and Bangladesh, and more avalanches were reported near Everest. The 6.7-magnitude tremor, centred 60km (40 miles) east of Nepal's capital Kathmandu, sent people running in panic for open ground in the city.
As military helicopters hovered over Kathmandu and ferried relief supplies to victims of the earthquake in western Nepal, search and rescue efforts were going on in at least five locations in Kathmandu.
Near the prime minister's official residence, two bulldozers scoured the rubble of a flattened four-storey house. A bystander said it was the local tax office. The bodies of the four staff inside had been recovered minutes before. As the search and road-clearing efforts got under way at noon, a major aftershock sent people into a panic again.
At a nearby open space, people were camped out fearing further tremors. They were short of food and water - clearly hoping and praying that the aftershocks would stop and things would be normal soon.
The death toll from the original earthquake on Saturday could rise, as the situation is unclear in remote areas which remain cut off or hard to access. Many mountain roads are cracked or blocked by landslides. Scores of bodies have been ferried to hospitals in Kathmandu, many of which are struggling to cope with the number of injured. More than 700 have died in the capital alone.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.