Nepal Earthquake Death Toll Tops 5,000 and Could Exceed 10,000, PM Warns; 250 Missing Along Trekking Route

The Associated Press
Published: April 28,2015



 
More than 5,000 people are dead and some 10,900 have been reported injured four days after a massive 7.8-magnitude earthquake rocked Nepal. Tens of thousands Nepalis have weathered terrifying aftershocks for days, slept in the streets and hunkered down as teams worked to dig out survivors.
As many as 250 people are missing following an avalanche Tuesday along a trekking route north of Kathmandu, Reuters reported. Bad weather is making the rescue efforts more difficult, Rasuwa District Governor Uddhav Bhattarai told Reuters.
According to prime minister Sushil Koirala, the earthquake's death toll could climb to 10,000 or higher when the recovery phase is completed, the Guardian reported.
And on the world's tallest mountain, dozens of avalanche survivors required rescue after the quake triggered a deadly slide that killed at least four Americans.
(MORE: How You Can Help | Americans Killed in the Earthquake)
Geoff Pinnock of the U.N.'s World Food Program was leading a convoy of trucks north toward the worst affected areas when the rain began to pound, leaving them stuck.
"This rain has caused a landslide that has blocked my trucks. I can maybe get one truck through and take a risk driving on the dirt, but I think we'll have to hold the materials back to try to get them out tomorrow by helicopter," he said.
Aid workers who had reached the edges of the epicenter described entire villages reduced to rubble.
"In some villages, about 90 percent of the houses have collapsed. They're just flattened," said Rebecca McAteer, an American physician who rushed to the quake zone from the distant Nepal hospital where she works.

How You Can Help

After the earthquake struck, multiple organizations sent crews to the area, offering aid and much-needed supplies. Here are those involved and how you can help.

• International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
• UNICEF
• AmeriCares
• OXFAM America
• Handicap International
• Save the Children
• CARE
• World Vision
• Samaritan's Purse
• International Medical Corps

Most those injured, she added, were young people and the elderly, since most young men long ago left their villages in search of better-paying work.
"The immediate need is getting support to where it's needed, but there will be a lot of work rebuilding," said McAteer, who was heading back soon to the center of the quake zone.

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Tragedy Aboard Everest

To the northeast of Kathmandu, the Mount Everest base camp has grown deeply quiet over the past couple days, as more and more climbers leave in the wake of the deadly avalanche that pulverized part of the mountaineering village after the Saturday earthquake.
Base camp is "very silent," Azim Afif, the leader of a team from University of Technology Malaysia, said during a brief interview on the messenger service WhatsApp. His team, he said, had decided not to attempt to reach the summit. They were planning to descend from base camp Wednesday.
(PHOTOS: Devastating Earthquake Rocks Nepal)
The main trail through the Khumbu Icefall, the expanse of immense chunks of ice that must be traversed during summit attempts, was wiped out by the avalanche. The "Icefall Doctors" — the Sherpas who create the trail of ropes and ladders — had already left base camp, he said.
As a result, "I'm not sure if anyone is still trying" to make summit attempts, he added.

Health Hazards Widespread

Across central Nepal, including in Kathmandu, the capital, hundreds of thousands of people are still living in the open without clean water or sanitation. It rained heavily in the city Tuesday, forcing people to find shelter wherever they could.
At Kathmandu airport, flights arrived with emergency aid and helicopters brought in both foreign trekkers and local villagers from quake-struck areas. Helicopters chartered by trekking companies reached the Langtang area, about 40 miles north of Kathmandu, a popular area for trekking — a key contributor to the country's economy.
Dave Gordon, from San Francisco, California, said he was in the area until Tuesday waiting for the rescue flight.
"Cliffs came down, four or five porters were deceased, buried in the rock fall," he said of the quake. "Trails are completely destroyed. People are stuck. They can't get out. It was very bad."
(MORE: Earthquake Safety and Preparedness)
The United Nations says it was releasing $15 million from its central emergency response fund for quake victims. The funds will allow international humanitarian groups to scale up operations and provide shelter, water, medical supplies and logistical services, U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said.
Trucks carrying food were on their way to affected districts outside the hard-hit and densely-populated Kathmandu valley, and distribution of the food was expected to start Tuesday.
Citing government figures, Haq said an estimated 8 million people have been affected by the quake in 39 of Nepal's districts, and more than 1.4 million need food assistance, including 750,000 who live near the epicenter in poor quality housing.

The U.N. humanitarian country team for Nepal is coordinating international relief efforts with the government and a clearer picture of needs should emerge within the next 48 hours, he said. The immediate priority is search and rescue, and removing debris to find survivors still trapped, he said.

Many of the ornate, historic buildings in Bhaktapur, a key tourist site just east of Kathmandu, were reduced to rubble. Residents began returning to collect whatever belongings they could.

Rescue workers and medical teams from at least a dozen countries were helping police and army troops in Kathmandu and surrounding areas, said Maj. Gen. Binod Basnyat, a Nepal army spokesman. Contributions came from large countries like India and China — but also from Nepal's tiny Himalayan neighbor of Bhutan, which dispatched a medical team.

At the Kathmandu airport, foreign planes from India, the U.S., China, Malaysia, Pakistan, Israel that brought aid and rescue personnel lined up on the crowded tarmac.

Coming out of the airport with dry blood on his face and legs, Min Bahadur Raut said he got a ride on a helicopter from a neighbor who had chartered a flight for his mother. He has not been able to move his left arm.

"We haven't seen any government help or relief at our village" northeast of Kathmandu, he said. Roads have been closed by landslides. "I don't know what is wrong with me. I have no money," he said. "I have been in pain for days now."