(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) The death toll in Nepal following the devastating earthquake which struck two days ago has climbed to 3,904 as rescuers continue to unearth victims.
Almost 7,200 people have also been found injured since the quake and its aftermath, according to figures released by Nepali police on Monday, as emergency services workers continued to search the remains of collapsed buildings, particularly in the Kathmandu valley.
Senior home ministry official Rameshwor Dangal said: "The rescue operation is going on. There are many helicopters being used to airlift people."
"We need shelters for the many thousands of people who have lost their homes."
The home ministry's disaster response unit reported that there have been 1,914 houses completely destroyed in Nepal, though the figure is unlikely to cover the destruction in remote areas.
Speaking in a radio address, the Minister for Home Affairs Bam Dev Gautam called the earthquake a "national calamity."
He said: "We have mobilized The Nepal Army, Nepal Police and the Armed Police Force across the country."
"We don't know the magnitude of loss yet, but many people have been buried in houses in Kathmandu."
He also called on Nepalis to stay outside amid continuing aftershocks and ordered government offices and hospitals across the country to open.
The worst regions have been the Kathmandu Valley, where 1,327 have died, and the central region where 2,293 have been killed.
Nepalis have remained on edge since Saturday's magnitude-7.8 quake destroyed buildings, ripped up roads and set off avalanches in the Himalayas, including one which tore through the Mount Everest base camp.
A second earthquake on Sunday afternoon, measuring magnitude-6.7 according to the U.S. Geological Survey, raised fears of further building collapses.
A further 62 people were also killed in India, according to the Indian Express newspaper, while Chinese state media reported 20 deaths in Tibet.
Concerns about access to clean water and sanitation is mounting as thousands of people remain displaced, forced to camp in open spaces due to continuing aftershocks.
"Even in normal times there is a crisis of water in Nepal, particularly in the Kathmandu Valley. At this time, the water supply systems have been hit, and people are out on the streets and in the camps. The scarcity of water is elevating," said Anu Gautham, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene cluster coordinator at UNICEF Kathmandu.
"As people stay in the camps for a long time, we will have a crisis of sanitation there," she said. "There will be issues of diarrhea and cholera and the likelihood is that there'll be epidemics in the big camp areas."
An update from the U.N. said transport and logistical problems posed a barrier to reaching remote areas, including the western Gorkha region where the quake triggered landslides.
The U.N. said there is an urgent need for trained doctors, medicine and medical supplies.
Children's rights group Plan International said in a statement it had sent teams to rural areas.
After returning to Kathmandu from the country's southeast, Plan's Nepal Director Mattias Bryneson said: "There is widespread destruction, collapsed buildings, severely damaged schools and many blocked roads due to landslides in rural areas."
"It is starting to rain in many areas and all over the region people are living outside with little or no shelter, children are crying and health care facilities are overrun."
Hospitals in Kathmandu have been overwhelmed by the scale of the disaster with many reporting a lack of capacity and supplies.
Dipendra Pandey, an orthopedic doctor at Bir Hospital's trauma center, said: "Now we are having a scarcity of medicine."
"There are some NGOs that have promised to bring medicine and say that they are on their way."
Other hospitals reported dangerously low blood supplies, essential for operating on serious injuries.
Kathmandu residents have camped outside since the earthquake for fear that strong tremors could cause more damage.
Rajeev Ravishankar, a Kathmandu-based journalist, said: "We're just kind of recovering still, people are still uneasy about going back inside buildings."
"There have been a lot of aftershocks all throughout the night and even this morning."
Local people sought to gather food and basic supplies as most shops remained closed, he said, although some street vendors had been selling fruit.
He told The Anadolu Agency: "Some shops are open, kind of. The problem is the damage ... so you can kind of walk in and grab a few items like biscuits, but it's pretty minimal."
The earthquake, the worst to hit the Himalayan nation since 1934, destroyed many old buildings and ruptured roads while telephone and Internet communication was severely disrupted.
Kathmandu's old district, which was home to numerous protected historical sites, has been the worst hit according to officials.
Several historic temples have collapsed, including in the iconic Durbar Square. The historic 62-meter tall Dharahara tower in central Kathmandu, was also brought crashing down by the quake.
There has been a large international response to the earthquake including specialist rescue teams immediately sent from India, China and Pakistan.
The international community has donated millions of dollars in aid to facilitate the delivery of relief to the victims of the earthquake.
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.