The death toll in Nepal's devastating earthquake on Saturday jumped to almost 7,000 on Saturday.
The death toll in Nepal's devastating earthquake on Saturday jumped to almost 7,000 on Saturday with several more thousand injured people injured as the government struggled to deal with the scale of the disaster.
The 7.9-magnitude quake last week left a trail of devastation and suffering, with people spending the cold night in the open because of fears of fresh quake.
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17:51 IST Saturday, 2 May 2015
Special: Here's why the Nepal earthquake could have been much worse
The structural engineer strides through Kathmandu's old city, past buildings reduced to rubble, buildings whose facades are cracked in dozens of places, like the fractured shell of a hardboiled egg.
Toll nears 7,000; people take to streets over slow relief
Fresh tremors rocked parts of Nepal on Saturday, triggering landslides as the death toll in last Saturday's devastating earthquake neared 7,000 and protests mounted over relief not reaching several affected areas.
17:24 IST Saturday, 2 May 2015
Fresh 5.0 tremor hits Pokhara region
A 5.0 magnitude earthquake occured near Pokhara, Nepal, on Saturday, according to the US Geological Survey.
Mamata Banerjee to oversee relief operations at Indo-Nepal border
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will personally oversee relief operations for the earthquake victims at the Indo-Nepal border on Monday.
15:34 IST Saturday, 2 May 2015
15:28 IST Saturday, 2 May 2015
Relief goods for victims held up at customs
Some of the relief material for survivors of Nepal's devastating earthquake was being held up at the country's only international airport because of customs bottlenecks, the United Nations said on Saturday, as the death toll from the disaster passed 6,600.
Nepal exempted tarpaulins and tents from import taxes on Friday, but UN Resident Representative Jamie McGoldrick told Reuters the government had to loosen customs restrictions further to deal with the increasing flow of relief material.
"They should not be using peacetime customs methodology," he said. Material was piling up at the Kathmandu airport instead of being ferried out to victims, McGoldrick said.
There was no immediate response from the government but Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat had appealed to international donors on Friday to send tents, tarpaulins and basic food supplies, saying some of the items received were of no use.
11:34 IST Saturday, 2 May 2015
Relief material sent to Nepal by SSB Siliguri
SSB Siliguri Frontier has sent relief material to Nepal and provided medical assistance for the quake-hit victims.
A truck with relief material like dry foods, blankets, drinking water, dry rations, mosquito nets, candles, was sent to the quake victims in Nepal.
The relief material was handed over to Armed Police Force, Nepal at their brigade Headquarters at Itahari, in Sunsari district last night, the release said.
The SSB Siliguri Frontier has so far treated 210 patients.
10:15 IST Saturday, 2 May 2015
A fresh 4.5-magnitude aftershock this morning triggered panic among the people, who scrambled for open spaces.
9:30 IST Saturday, 2 May 2015
According to AFP, government says there is no possibility of finding more Nepal quake survivors as toll jumps to 6,621.
9:00 IST Saturday, 2 May 2015
Thousands of people are still missing
Thousands of people are still missing in Nepal as food and help began to trickle through to those stranded in remote areas.
Bodies are still being pulled from the debris of ruined buildings, while rescue workers have not been able to reach some remote areas. In the capital Kathmandu, many unclaimed bodies were being quickly cremated because of the need to avert disease and reduce the stench of corpses in areas where buildings had collapsed.
7:37 IST Saturday, 2 May 2015
US Marines begin operations in quake-struck Nepal
US military aircraft, heavy equipment and air traffic controllers will start arriving in Nepal from Saturday as part of a US relief operation following the devastating earthquake, a senior US officer said.
Brigadier General Paul Kennedy of the US Marine Corps said that the six military aircraft, including two helicopters, will arrive from Saturday, accompanied by 100 marines and lifting equipment under an agreement reached with Nepal's government earlier in the week.
The US military would help manage the growing piles of relief supplies clogging Nepal's only international airport, which has struggled to distribute all the aid arriving from around the world since the earthquake.
7:35 IST Saturday, 2 May 2015
Aerial View of Nature's Fury at Barpak
22:34 IST Friday, 1 May 2015
Will continue rescue operations in Nepal for as long as it takes, says MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup
Over 11,300 Indians have come back from quake-hit Nepal via routes through Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Uttarakhand, the government has said even as it underlined that it would continue to support rescue operations in the Himalayan country for "as long as it takes".
21:22 IST Friday, 1 May 2015
Red Cross warns of total devastation near Nepal quake epicentre
The Red Cross warned on Friday that nearly all homes had been wiped out in some towns and villages near the epicentre of Nepal's devastating earthquake.
19:20 IST Friday, 1 May 2015
Condition of NH-28 hampering relief to Nepal; repair work on war footing
The National Highway Authority of India has undertaken the repair work of the dilapidated National Highway-28 between Motihari and Raxaul, bordering Nepal, on a war-footing.
19:00 IST Friday, 1 May 2015
One thousand Europeans missing, 12 dead after Nepal quake
One thousand people from the EU are missing in Nepal and 12 are confirmed dead, nearly a week after a devastating earthquake, the head of the EU delegation here said on Friday.
Over 2,50,000 buildings damaged in Nepal earthquake
The 7.9-magnitude Saturday earthquake, the country's worst in over eight decades, completely damaged 1,38,182 houses across Nepal and partially damaged 1,22,694 other homes.
16:05 IST Friday, 1 May 2015
Foreign Secretary, NSA ask agencies to focus on rescue work in remote areas
Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, who arrived in earthquake-hit Kathmandu on Friday, said the rescue operations in remote areas should be given priority and added that the relief materials should reach the victims in time.
The duo, who conducted an aerial survey, also directed all the Indian agencies to carry the relief and rescue operations in full swing in the quake ravaged nation.
Doval praised the rescue operations carried out by different groups.
“We went for an aerial survey and there is a lot of destruction, but the rescue operations by Nepalese Army and Indian are properly conducted,” he said.
15:59 IST Friday, 1 May 2015
15:58 IST Friday, 1 May 2015
National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar review NDRF rescue operations.
15:15 IST Friday, 1 May 2015
Indian Ambassador to Nepal Ranjit Rae visits a Field Hospital being run by the rapid action medical team.
10:29 IST Friday, 1 May 2015
Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar & Ajit Doval reaches Kathmandu to oversee relief operation.
Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval arrived in Kathmandu to oversee the relief operations being carried out in earthquake-hit Nepal by India.
The duo will assess the rescue and relief efforts launched under ‘Operation Maitri’ to aid Nepal.
The Indian Army is on a war footing in Nepal. Personnel of the Indian Army and NDRF, who have stepped up their efforts to reach the far-flung areas devastated by the quake, are constantly providing all relief materials besides giving medical aid to those injured.
9:21 IST Friday, 1 May 2015
9:21 IST Friday, 1 May 2015
Need at least $2 billion to rebuild homes: FM Ram Sharan Mahat
Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat said Nepal would need at least $2 billion to rebuild homes, hospitals, government offices and historic buildings and appealed for help from international donors.
"This is just an initial estimate and it will take time to assess the extent of damage and calculate the cost of rebuilding," Mahat told Reuters.
Backround:
8 million people affectd: UN
The United Nations has said 8 million people had been affected, with at least 2 million in need of tents, water, food and medicines over the next three months.
A home ministry official said the death toll had risen to 6,134, with 13,906 injured.
Information Minister Minendra Rijal said the government would provide $1,000 in immediate assistance to the families of those killed, as well as $400 for cremation or burial.
Prime Minister Sushil Koirala told Reuters earlier this week the death toll from the quake could reach 10,000.
That would surpass the 8,500 who died in a 1934 earthquake, the last disaster on this scale to hit the Himalayan nation sandwiched between India and China.
(With Reuters inputs)
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