Hopes of finding more survivors dwindle in Nepal
Print Edition
A WEEK on from the earthquake that killed more than 6,700 people, Nepalese authorities yesterday ruled out finding any more survivors in the ruins of Kathmandu despite relatives refusing to give up hope.
Two days after any signs of life had been detected among the mountains of rubble, the focus was shifting to reaching survivors in areas who have yet to receive relief supplies.
The United Nations’ children’s fund UNICEF warned of a race against time to avert an outbreak of disease among the 1.7 million youngsters estimated to be living in the worst-hit areas.
The magnitude 8.1 quake wreaked a trail of death and destruction when it erupted on April 25, reducing much of Kathmandu to rubble and even triggering a deadly avalanche on Mount Everest.
“It has already been a week since the disaster,” home ministry spokesman Laxmi Prasad Dhakal said.
“We are trying our best in rescue and relief work, but now I don’t think that there is any possibility of survivors under the rubble,” he said.
As well as updating the death toll to 6,621, Dhakal put the number of injured at 14,023. More than 100 people were killed in India and China.
While rescue teams from more than 20 countries have been using sniffer dogs and heat-seeking equipment to find survivors in the rubble, no one has been pulled out alive since Thursday evening.
But relatives of those missing have refused to abandon hope.
“I believe he must still be trapped and will be rescued alive,” said Suntali Tamang, whose husband Langte, 41, was believed to be in the same neighborhood where the last survivors were found.
“He was the breadwinner and I am praying for him to be brought back safely,” she said.
Tens of thousands of survivors have been living out in the open in Kathmandu in the week since the quake.
“We are not living in this tent out of choice. We are here because we have nowhere to go,” said Dhiraj Thakur.
“Most of our stuff is lost and even the person for whom I used to work as a driver is dead, so I don’t know where I will get money,” the 24-year-old said.
UNICEF said the health of children hit by the disaster was “hanging in the balance” as “hospitals are overflowing, water is scarce, bodies are still buried under the rubble and people are still sleeping in the open.”
“This is a perfect breeding ground for diseases,” said Rownak Khan, UNICEF’s deputy representative in Nepal.
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