KATHMANDU/ NEW DELHI, Apr 28: The death toll in Nepal’s devastating earthquake could shoot up to 10,000 as rescuers and international aid workers today struggled to reach relief in remote areas of the country which is still battling the aftermath.
Nepal desperately needed tents, water and food supplies, Prime Minister Sushil Koirala told an all party meeting briefing the leaders on efforts to rush emergency supplies to those in need.
The death toll could reach 10,000 because information from the affected remote villages is yet to come, Koirala said.
Three days after the 7.9-magnitude temblor flattened their homes and dwellings, desperate people across Nepal looked for succour from helicopters that criss-cross the Himalayan nation as massive international aid, including from India, poured in.
At least 5,057 bodies have so far been recovered after Saturday’s massive earthquake that struck just outside of capital Kathmandu, a Nepalese police official said. Over 10,000 people have been injured in the quake.
He acknowledged that authorities were overwhelmed by appeals for help from remote villages but the administration has been unable to initiate rescue efforts in many areas due to lack of equipment and rescue experts.
Eight million people have been affected by the devastating earthquake, the United Nations said today.
More than 1.4 million need food, while water and shelter are also in short supply, the UN said in a report.
Hundreds of people are still trapped under tonnes of rubble in capital Kathmandu and some of the worst-affected remote mountainous areas.
Koirala has admitted that the rescue, relief and search operations have not been effective. He has urged the political parties to work together in this national crisis.
Meanwhile, Indian Ambassador Ranjit Rae today met Koirala and briefed him on the relief and rescue assistance provided by India under ‘Operation Maitri’.
The Prime Minister thanked the Ambassador for India’s swift response on relief and rescue assistance.
“Our assistance so far has included makeshift hospitals, food, water, medicines, search and recuse teams, power restoration team, two engineering teams and more assistance in terms of dry food ration and essential medicines are expected soon,” Embassy sources said
Indian defence teams are flying to far-flung areas such as Gorkha district where the epicentre of the quake was located.
The Nepalese Government has announced nine districts as highly-affected areas.
The Government has said that altogether 60 districts have been affected by the earthquake.
Meanwhile, India today enlarged its relief and rescue operations in quake-hit Nepal beyond Kathmandu to the worst-affected epicentre areas and rushed Gorkha soldiers to remote places to assess the kind of assistance required.
The death toll in India following Saturday’s powerful earthquake in Nepal, meanwhile, rose to 75 with Bihar accounting for maximum number of 58 casualties.
A “big” evacuation effort through the road route was also underway with another 4,000 people headed to India.
Altogether 20,000 Indian nationals have been evacuated and arrangements were being made to take them to their homes by trains from Raxaul in Bihar, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said in Motihari.
A report from Maharajganj in Uttar Pradesh said over a 1,000 stranded people arrived in the border town of Sunauli.
Defence Secretary R K Mathur said in all the Indian Air Force has ferried 2,865 passengers back home.
As rescue efforts afer the killer quake entered the fourth day, Indian rescuers from NDRF and Air Force planes have begun reaching areas beyond Kathmandu Valley near Pokhara.
“We now have a better appreciation of the area after our helicopters have undertaken numerous sorties. We have conducted chopper operations to the affected areas outside Kathmandu today. A AN-32 plane also landed at Pokhara today,” Defence Secretary R K Mathur told reporters during an official briefing of operation ‘Maitri’ or friendship here.
Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar said a “big movement by roads” has been initiated and in the first phase approximately 4,000 Indians in 80 buses will be reaching India by tonight. The buses, after crossing the Indo-Nepal border, will terminate at Gorakhpur in UP.
“The bus route is probably the best route to come back home and we have made arrangements for the same along the border on the Indian side,” he said.
Jaishankar said it is expected that 100 more buses will go to Nepal from UP tomorrow and after dropping relief material, they will carry passengers back.
“There has been progress in terms of relief going in,” the Foreign Secretary said.
Goyal said in India, 75 casualities and 450 injuries have been reported till now from the affected states.
“The maximum casualities of 58 have taken place in Bihar. No assistance has been sought by any other quake-affected state from the Centre till now. However, NDRF teams are working at these locations,” he said.
Tapping its 38,000-strong force of Gorkha soldiers, the Indian Army has sent “quite a few of them” to various parts of Nepal to ascertain the requirements in remote places.
Army officers said the soldiers, some of whom have reached their destinations, are providing valuable inputs about the extent of damage and the specific relief needed.
“We have got a large number of Gorkha soldiers in the Indian Army who belong to Nepal. Quite a few of them have been sent to Nepal, to their areas, to physically go and ascertain what are the requirements,” Additional Director General of Military Operations Maj Gen Ranbir Singh said here. (PTI)
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