Nepal earthquake: Reaching victims a tall task

Kathmandu: Rescuers in Nepal battled on Tuesday to reach remote communities devastated by a huge earthquake that has killed at least 4,310 people, as the impoverished country’s leader said relief workers had still not reached many of the worst-hit areas.

With the UN estimating eight million people have been hit by the disaster, Prime Minister Sushil Koirala said getting help to some of the worst affected areas was a “major challenge”.

Koirala said that the death toll could reach 10,000 because information from the affected remote villages is yet to come. Koirala told an emergency all-party meeting the government was sending desperately needed tents, water and food supplies to those in need.

But he said authorities were overwhelmed by appeals for help from remote Himalayan villages left devastated by the quake. “Appeals for rescues are coming in from everywhere,” a statement from Koirala’s office quoted him as saying.

“But we have been unable to initiate rescue efforts in many areas at the same time due to lack of equipment and rescue experts.” With fears rising of food and water shortages, Nepalis were rushing to stores and petrol stations to stock up on essential supplies in the capital Kathmandu.

Home ministry spokesman Laxmi Prasad Dhakal said on Tuesday the official death toll had crossed 5,000, with a further 7,953 known to have been injured.

Officials had previously put the death toll at 4,010, making it the quake-prone Himalayan nation's deadliest disaster in more than 80 years. The toll in China’s far western region of Tibet, which neighbours Nepal, rose to 25, the official Xinhua news agency said.

There are fears the death toll could jump once rescuers discover the full extent of devastation in villages outside Kathmandu.

Three days after the quake hit, rescue teams have still not reached some of the worst-affected areas of Lamjung, the site of the quake’s epicentre, around 77 kilometres west of the capital. “The situation here is not good. So many have lost their homes. They don’t have enough water or food,” said Udav Prasad Timilsina, the head official in the neighbouring district of Gorkha.

“We haven’t even been able to treat the injured. We are in urgent need of essentials like food, water... and medicines and tents. Rescuers are coming in, but we need help.”

Families who work in Kathmandu were packing onto buses — some even sitting on the roofs — in an exodus from the city, many for their home villages to determine the damage there.

Mothers clutching children and men hauling bags were seen bargaining with drivers of the many buses clogging the roads out of the capital. Those who remained in the capital were sleeping outdoors in makeshift tents in parks and other open spaces, many having lost their houses and others too terrified to return home after several aftershocks. With just plastic sheets to protect them in the open, many were desperate for aid and information on what to do next.