Aerial footage shot by a drone over Kathmandu, Nepal, shows the scale of devastation in that area
Nepal has been devastated by the earthquake. The remote area of Kathmandu have been affected considerably by the earthquake. See aerial photos. (Video courtesy: Gold TV)
KATHMANDU: Thousands of people spent last night huddled under makeshift tents fashioned from plastic sheeting that did little to protect them from heavy rain, sleepless with fear as aftershocks rattled Nepal, where more than 3,600 people have died in Saturday's earthquake, according to reports.
Monday morning brought the sun and some respite in devastated Kathmandu, where rain on Sunday hampered rescue work. Progress on relief was also hit by nerve-shredding aftershocks, one a tremor of 5.4 magnitude a little before 10 last night.
"55 aftershocks have been observed till now," LS Rathore, Director General, India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
People said they were too afraid to spend the night indoors in buildings already damaged by Saturday's earthquake. "We don't have a choice, our house is shaky. The rain is seeping in but what can we do," said 34-year-old shopkeeper Rabi Shrestha as he camped out on the roadside.
"I don't know why the gods want us to suffer like this," he said.
"We are making our own facilities, helping ourselves. There is no help from the government. There is no water. We picked up whatever we could and came here," said another local.
The situation has been exacerbated by power cuts and the country's cell phone network is at breaking point. Some shops have opened on Monday morning so people will have access to provisions.
Hospitals have been overwhelmed by the disaster, with morgues overflowing and medics having to work through the night to cope with an endless stream of victims suffering trauma or multiple fractures.
Some surgeons have been operating from makeshift theatres set up in parking lots with the aftershocks making patients too scared to stay inside.
At the city's oldest Bir Hospital, around a dozen bodies had to be placed on the floor, while stricken relatives stood vigil, trying to swat away the flies.
The Nepalese government said it was stepping up efforts to help remote areas closer to the epicentre of the quake. "Our focus is on rescue," home ministry spokesman Laxmi Prasad Dhakal told AFP. An official said emergency crews would also step up their efforts to rescue those trapped in high-rise buildings which collapsed in Kathmandu.
On Sunday afternoon, a particularly big tremor of 6.7-magnitude saw the Kathmandu airport close down for a few hours and triggered more avalanches in the Himalayas after Saturday's 7.9 quake - which unleashed Everest's worst disaster and was the strongest since 1934 when 8,500 people were killed.
The powerful aftershock was felt in large parts of north India too. In places like Darbhanga in Bihar that are close to Nepal, people reported feeling the earth shake again when the fresh tremor hit on Sunday evening. More than 60 people have died in India in Saturday's powerful quake - 51 in Bihar, 12 in Uttar Pradesh and two in West Bengal.
India has deployed 13 military transport planes loaded with tonnes of food, blankets and other aid for rescue work in Nepal. "Rescue operations are our first priority," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his monthly radio address Mann ki Baat.
