Death toll rises to 3,800 in Nepal

earthquake

The densely populated capital, Kathmandu, is shaken; more than 2,200 are reported dead.

By Rama Lakshmi and Annie Gowen April 27 at 10:10 AM

KATHMANDU, Nepal With international aid beginning to flow but desperation still
rising, rescue crews in Nepal expanded helicopter searches Monday into remote
villages believed to be the worst hit from a massive earthquake that has already
claimed more than 3,800 lives.
The flights deep into the Himalayan valleys highlighted worries that the death toll could
still rise from Saturdays 7.8 magnitude quake that flattened densely populated areas
near Kathmandu, toppled centuries-old monuments and buried Everest base
camp with a deadly avalanche of snow and jagged ice.
In Kathmandu and elsewhere, the smoky haze from mass cremations wafted over the
devastation after skies cleared following torrential rain. Survivors massed in tent
camps amid frightening aftershocks and fears of further landslides on quakeweakened slopes.

There are people who are not getting food and shelter. Ive had reports of villages
where 70 percent of the houses have been destroyed, said Udav Prashad Timalsina,
the top official in the central Gorkha district near the temblors epicenter.
Nepals Home Affairs ministry placed the latest death toll at more than 3,800 people.
That did not include at least 19 mountaineers killed in the shadow of Everest and
dozens others in neighboring India and Tibet in China.

Object 1

Local Nepalese television showed aerial images of damage to Kathmandu

and its surroundings two days after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake hit. Roads
leading out of the mountain valley city were jammed. (Reuters)
[Aftershocks keep Nepal on edge]
The morgues are getting totally full, Shankar Koirala, an official in the prime
ministers office, told the Associated Press.
Sitanshu Kar, a spokesman for Indias defense ministry, said on Twitter that Indian Air
Force pilots have been flying rescue sorties over the countrys rugged terrain with their
Nepalese Army counterparts, dropping supplies and ferrying out more than 100
people.
Operations were suspended due to tremors and bad weather Sunday, but resumed
Monday. The missions included Indias large MI-17 helicopters sent to Pokhara, a
large town near the epicenter of Saturdays quake.
Throughout the country, food, water and medicine ran low, and makeshift tent camps
sprung up for those whose homes were lost. Electricity and telephone service was
intermittent.
Relief efforts were in motion around the world ranging from a $3 million emergency
grant from the Asian Development Bank to a deployment of U.S. Special Forces to
help in high-altitude searches.

Other planes brought sobering reminders that the full reckoning of the tragedy is not
over: cadaver-sniffing dogs from India and equipment from Europe and elsewhere for
field hospitals.
Kathmandus small airport the main lifeline for the capital struggled to handle the
influx of flights, and many workers were not at their posts: either casualties of the
quake or dealing with their own aftermath.
[World Heritage sites before and after]
About 30 of Nepal's 75 districts, mostly in the western and central regions, have
suffered damage in the quake. But communication remained difficult, complicating
assessments on the scope of the needs, according to Save the Children, the
international aid group.
Brad Kerner, an international public health specialist from Save the Children who is in
Nepal, said that worries about road conditions would keep their field assessment
teams from leaving Kathmandu until Tuesday.
The challenges are so many, Kerner said.The aftershocks and the scale of the
tremors have created a lot of concern."
A major aftershock Sunday, with a magnitude 6.7, was felt as far away as New Delhi,
about 400 miles to the west, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
On Mount Everest, more snow and ice came crashing down as the ground shook from
the aftershocks. Saturdays devastating avalanche left at least 19 reported dead at the
mountains base camp and hampered rescue efforts.
Emergency personnel airlifted around 50 injured climbers by helicopterfrom the base
camp Sunday morning, but put help for others on hold after the aftershock. Col. Rohan
Anand, a spokesman for the Indian army, said dozens of climbers remained missing at
the worlds highest peak.
Among those killed on Everest were at least three Americans, according to the State
Department: Dan Fredinburg, a Google executive from the San Francisco Bay Area;
Marisa Eve Girawong, a physicians assistant from Seattle; and Tom Taplin, a
filmmaker from Colorado.
On the Tibetan side of Everest, all climbing was canceled. Chinas official Xinhua news
agency said more than 400 climbers from about 20 countries were safe after
descending to lower elevations.
The United Nations issued a situation report that said that the most affected areas
were Gorkha and Lamjung, areas northwest of Kathmandu and close to the quakes
epicenter, with damage to the Kathmandu Valley limited to historic, densely built-up
areas.
[Scenes from the rubble]
It is essential that we move quickly and effectively, said Jamie McGoldrick, the U.N.

resident coordinator. We need to ensure that no further lives are lost and the needs of
the most vulnerable prioritized.
The biggest challenge is that rescuers still dont have reliable information about whats
going on in areas outside Kathmandu, including how many people are still trapped,
according to O.P. Singh, the director general of Indias National Disaster Response
Force.
Where are they? Singh said. No assessment has been done.
An urban search-and-rescue team from the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue
Department in Virginia will be deployed, the U.S. Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance
said on Twitter, with one from Los Angeles on standby.
The United States authorized an initial $1 million for emergency humanitarian needs,
the State Department said.
China, which gave $3 million in humanitarian aid, sent a 62-member search-andrescue team that arrived in Nepal on Sunday. More help is expected from Israel,
Japan, the European Union, Malaysia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and other countries.
Throughout Kathmandu, people remained outside, too fearful of aftershocks to reenter
their homes. Crowds gathered in parks, road medians, school yards anywhere
there were open spaces.
Ram Bahadur Tandukar, 50, a public works contractor, was watching over his home
from the street, where his extended family of five was sleeping crammed in a utility
vehicle. During Sundays big aftershock, he said, he saw his house sway from left to
right.
Theres no way I want to go back, he said. The last two nights I have stayed in my
car. Its very cold, not comfortable. But Im not getting out at all.
At Bir Hospital one of the oldest medical facilities in Kathmandu doctors had
treated patients outside in the hours following the earthquake.
In the hospitals one functioning operation room, 38 back-to-back surgeries were
conducted, according to Kapil Gautam, a doctor there.
Most of the patients had been hurt in roof and wall collapses. More than 100 bodies
lay outside in the courtyard, including 10 that were uncovered and had yet to be
identified.
Relatives of patients crammed the grounds outside, and the patients themselves sat
on the floor in the foyer, too scared to stay in upstairs wards.
There, a truck driver named Dinesh Tamang comforted his wife, who had a swollen
eye and a broken arm after the roof of the couples home collapsed Saturday. When
the big aftershock occurred Sunday, Tamang said, his wife started screaming in fear.
It was very scary for all of us, but I had to be strong, he said. I put my hand on her
and said, Dont worry, the bad days will go soon.

Gowen reported from Itanagar, India. Daniela Deane in London and Brian Murphy in
Washington contributed to this report.
Read more:
Experts had warned for decades that Nepal was vulnerable to a killer quake
Climbers trapped on Mount Everest are getting desperate
What Nepals earthquake felt like from a hotel in Kathmandu
Today's coverage from Post correspondents around the world
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