Food and water needed, Nepal quake kills over 5,000

World Today

Nepalese and French rescue teams take Nepalese Rishi Khanal, 27, out of a damaged building and carry him to the hospital, 82 hours after the earthquake. (AFP PHOTO / BIKASH KARKI)

As Nepalese women pleaded for food, shelter and anything else the helicopter might have brought on an in-and-out run Wednesday to this smashed mountain village near the epicenter of last weekend’s mammoth earthquake that killed more than 5,000 people.

Unlike in Nepal’s capital, where most buildings were spared complete collapse, the tiny hamlets clinging to the remote mountainsides of Gorkha District have been ravaged. Entire clusters of homes were reduced to piles of stone and splintered wood. Orange plastic tarps used for shelter now dot the cliff sides and terraced rice paddies carved into the land.

Food is not the only necessity in short supply out here beyond the reaches of paved roads, electricity poles and other benefits of the modern world. These days, even water is scarce. Communication is a challenge and modern medical care is a luxury many have never received.

Gumda is one of a handful of villages identified as the worst hit by Saturday’s 7.8-magnitude earthquake, from which it will almost certainly take years to recover.

As in many villages, though, the death toll in Gumda was far lower than feared, since many villagers were working outdoors when the quake struck at midday. Of Gumda’s 1,300 people, five were killed in the quake and 20 more were injured.

8 million Nepalese have been affected by the earthquake, including 1.4 million needing immediate food assistance. The relief effort is likely to stretch on for months.

The disaster also injured more than 10,000, police said, and rendered thousands more homeless. The U.N. says the disaster has affected 8.1 million people — more than a fourth of Nepal’s population of 27.8 million — and that 1.4 million needed food assistance.

Excerpt of a story from the Associated Press


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Follow Tony Cheng on Twitter @TLCBkk


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Follow Hendrik Sybrandy on Twitter @hsybrandy


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