The Latest on Nepal: 3 pulled from rubble 8 days after quake

Updated

4:20 p.m. (1035 GMT)

Rescuers have pulled from the rubble three survivors in a mountainous village, eight days since the earthquake.

Surya Prasad Upadhaya, government administrator in Sindhupalchok district, said Sunday that two men and a woman were pulled out from near Syauli village, about 60 kilometers (38 miles) west of the capital, Kathmandu.

They have been taken to a nearby military hospital for treatment.

Other details are not immediately available.

The district is the worst hit with the highest number of casualties.

- Binaj Gurubacharya, Kathmandu, Nepal

___

2:30 p.m. (0845 GMT)

Rescuers have found 51 bodies in a village on a popular trekking route over the weekend, including six foreigners.

Government administrator Gautam Rimal says the remains were dug up in the Langtang Valley in Rasuwa district, 60 kilometers (35 miles) north of Kathmandu.

They include Nepalese guides, hotel owners, workers and porters.

One of them was a French national and another an Indian. The identity and nationalities of the other foreigners were not immediately known.

The area, with a dozen inns near the trekking trail, was buried by a landslide after the April 25 earthquake.

- Binaj Gurubacharya, Kathmandu, Nepal

___

11:35 a.m. (0550 GMT)

Responding to the Nepalese government's plea for temporary shelters in the wake of the massive earthquake, an Indian state government is sending 100,000 tents to Nepal.

Surendra Thapa, a Nepalese consular official based in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata, says the tents will be handed over to Nepalese officials on Monday by the chief minister of India's West Bengal state, Mamata Banerjee.

With monsoon rains expected in a few weeks, Nepal has pleaded with donors to send tents and temporary shelters for earthquake victims who have been living in the open for more than a week, with their homes damaged by the April 25 quake.

Thapa said Sunday that another 13,000 tents given by donors in Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal state, were also being transported to Nepal, India's northern neighbor.

- Binaj Gurubacharya, Kathmandu, Nepal

___

11:35 a.m. (0550 GMT)

Nepal's only international airport was closed Sunday to large military and cargo planes flying in relief material to prevent damage to the airport's only runway.

Birendra Shrestha, manager of Tribhuwan International Airport, located on the outskirts of Kathmandu, said the runway was built to handle only medium-size jetliners, but was deteriorating due to large military and cargo planes flying in quake relief material for over a week.

He said there have been reports of the runway developing cracks.

Nepalese authorities are asking donors to use smaller planes.

- Binaj Gurubacharya, Kathmandu, Nepal

___

10:10 a.m. (0425 GMT)

Nepal's health secretary says there have been reports of people being hit by diarrhea in several districts in remote mountain villages worst-hit by the April 25 earthquake. However, he says there is no epidemic yet and authorities hope to bring it under control.

Health Secretary Santa Shrestha said Sunday that health teams with medicine have rushed to many of the affected areas.

Earlier, the U.N. children's agency, UNICEF, warned of the risks of disease on children following the quake.

"With the monsoon season only a few weeks away, children will be at heightened risk of diseases like cholera and diarrhea infections, as well as being more vulnerable to the threat of landslides and floods," the agency said.

- Binaj Gurubacharya, Kathmandu, Nepal

___

10:10 a.m. (0425 GMT)

Government offices in Nepal have reopened, eight days after the massive earthquake.

Government employees were ordered to help in rescue efforts last week, but offices resumed full function Sunday. The Home Ministry said 24,703 government office buildings were damaged by the quake.

Nepal's Supreme court said it was shutting down work for a few more days because of major damage to the building in the center of Kathmandu.

- Binaj Gurubacharya, Kathmandu, Nepal

___

7:15 a.m. (0130 GMT)

Officials in Nepal say the death toll from last weekend's massive earthquake has climbed past 7,000.

National police officer Babu Kanji Giri said Sunday that the death toll had reached 7,040 as more bodies are found in the debris.

The Home Ministry said that 14,123 people were injured in the April 25 quake. Of them, 6,512 are being treated in hospitals.

- Binaj Gurubacharya, Kathmandu, Nepal

___

9:30 p.m. (1545 GMT)

Nepal's Home Ministry official Laxmi Dhakal says hopes of finding any more survivors are fading away as more than a week has passed since the massive earthquake.

He says: "Unless they were caught in an air pocket, there is not much possibility."

Two survivors - a 15-year-old boy and a woman in her 20s - were rescued from the rubble on Thursday.

- Binaj Gurubacharya, Kathmandu, Nepal

___

9 p.m. (1515 GMT)

Dozens of Nepalese have gathered in central Kathmandu's Maitighar Mandala Park to recite a prayer and light candles for those who perished in the earthquake.

A woman cried, a boy said a prayer and others placed candles on the ground to form a map of Nepal, wishing that victims can be united to overcome their grief.

Nila Shrestha, a 31-year-old Kathmandu resident, appealed to the world to continue sending aid to Nepal.

- Koji Ueda, Kathmandu, Nepal

___

6:10 p.m. (1225 GMT)

Nepal police say the death toll from last week's magnitude-7.8 earthquake has climbed to 6,841, as more reports come in from remote areas and rescue workers dig out more bodies from under the rubble.

More than 14,000 people have been reported injured.

- Binaj Gurubacharya, Kathmandu, Nepal

___

5:50 p.m. (1205 GMT)

In Kathmandu, hundreds of volunteers have turned out to help those who have been left homeless by the magnitude-7.8 quake a week ago.

They have collected clothes, medicines, packaged food and money and are distributing it at the Bhrikutimandap, an exhibition ground in the city.

Doctors, engineers, business executives and office workers folded donated clothes and packed medicines to be sent across neighborhoods.

"We are gathering whatever we can. Our priority is providing medicines and clean drinking water and warn people about the possibility of spread of disease," said a visibly exhausted Srijana Jyoti, a businesswoman.

Jyoti said they have been shipping out water storage tanks to those in need.

"Water is the essential and we are trying to get them access to clean drinking water," she said, adding they are printing banners in the local language telling what precautions to take to avoid getting sick.

- Binaj Gurubacharya, Kathmandu, Nepal

___

5 p.m. (1130 GMT)

UNICEF says the health and well-being of children affected by the earthquake are hanging in the balance - many are homeless, in deep shock and with no access to basic care.

There is also worry about the monsoon season and the risk of diseases like cholera and diarrheal infections.

With about 40 percent of children stunted in Nepal, UNICEF is raising alarm about the effect of the earthquake on their nutrition. It says that at least 15,000 children with severe acute malnutrition require therapeutic feeding.

There is also an urgent need for children in the 12 most affected districts to get back to their normal routine by setting up child-friendly spaces, opening schools and providing access to basic services, such as health and water.

Advertisement