AP
KATHMANDU, MAY 3
Officials in Nepal say the death toll from last weekend’s massive earthquake has climbed past 7,040. National police officer Babu Kanji Giri said on Sunday that the death toll had reached 7,040 as more bodies are found in the debris.
The Home Ministry said that 14,123 people were injured in the April 25 quake. Of them, 6,512 are being treated in hospitals.
Nepal’s Home Ministry official Laxmi Dhakal says hopes of finding any more survivors are fading away as more than a week has passed since the massive earthquake.
He says: “Unless they were caught in an air pocket, there is not much possibility.”
Two survivors, a 15-year-old boy and a woman in her 20s, were rescued from the rubble on Thursday.
Binaj Gurubacharya, Kathmandu, Nepal.
In Kathmandu, hundreds of volunteers have turned out to help those who have been left homeless by the magnitude-7.8 quake a week ago.
Jyoti said they have been shipping out water storage tanks to those in need.
“Water is the essential and we are trying to get them access to clean drinking water,” she said, adding they are printing banners in the local language telling what precautions to take to avoid getting sick.
A week after a massive earthquake shook Nepal, angry villagers in some parts of central Sindhupalchok district say they’re still waiting for aid to reach them.
In Pauwathok, three trucks sped by without stopping Saturday. One of the trucks had police with automatic weapons, escorting the two others, which were covered by tarps.
“What about us?” screamed the villagers. But the trucks sped off without halting. Of the 85 homes in Pauwathok, all but a handful were destroyed in the magnitude-78 quake that struck April 25.
“Nobody has come here to help us. No government, no police, no aid,” said 71-year-old Badri Giri.
The villagers said they were barely eating once a day, surviving with whatever they could forage from the debris of their collapsed homes.
“We have no homes, no place to live anymore. We are sleeping outside,” Giri said.
Nepal seeks clothes, contraceptives, medicines
Tents, mats, blankets, contraceptives, squatting pans, dust bins, utensils… Nepal has sent out an updated list of what it needs following the country’s deadly earthquake.
The list has been sent to all diplomatic missions, the UN and specialized agencies and other international organisations based in Kathmandu.
According to officials, Nepal’s immediate requirement also includes mattresses, pillows, bed sheets, mobile toilets, fire extinguishers, lamps (preferably solar), emergency lights and cooking stoves. Nepal is also seeking candles, matches and torch lights.
Other items meant to be distributed to victims of the April 25 earthquake are water purifiers, sanitation kits, first aid kits, sanitary towels, soap, liquid wash, baby diapers, free chlorine test kit for water, clothes stationery items, rice, biscuits and milk powder.
Over 150 drugs and surgical items, emergency veterinary medicines, vaccines, disinfectant and agriculture nutrients also figure in the list. At the same time, aid workers pouring into Nepal have been told to make their own arrangement for accommodation, food and transport. The foreign ministry said that distribution of aid should be in conformity with international standards and norms.
105-year-old rescued 8 days after Nepal quake
A 105-year-old man was among four people rescued alive on Sunday from under the rubble of buildings that collapsed on April 25 in the massive earthquake that rocked Nepal killing more than 7,000 people.
Three people from a family were rescued in Sindhupalchok district, while 105-year-old Fanchu Ghale was brought out alive from beneath the rubble of his own house in Kimtang-8 in Nuwakot district.
Ghale was rescued by a joint team of Nepal Police and Japanese rescue personnel.
Apart from minor injuries in his limbs, his health was fine, rescuers said.
He was airlifted to the Trishuli district hospital for treatment in a Nepal Army helicopter.
Meanwhile, a team of the Armed Police Force on Sunday rescued the three people from a family — 25-year-old Kanchan Khatri, 36-year-old Gyan Kumari and 60-year-old Dhan Kumari — from under the debris of their house in Sindupalchok, one of the worst hit districts.
The three were rescued from under their beds.
They were taken to a hospital in Chautara, the district headquarter.
Officers of the armed police said the three were not able to speak due to the trauma they had undergone for the last eight days.
A team of army and armed police force personnel deployed at Sauli village in Surkhet district have learnt that some people were buried under the rubble and had a chance of survival.
The rescuers were working to bring out those buried alive, officials said.
