Death Toll of Nepal Quake Reaches 7,000
KABUL: (Middle East Press) officials have confirmed that almost 7,000 people have lost their lives following the devastating earthquake that hit the South Asian country of Nepal.
Nepal’s National Emergency Operation Center said Friday in its latest update that a total of 6,600 people in Nepal are now known to have lost their lives in the 7.8-magnitude quake.
However, over 13,932 people were wounded in the deadly incident, it added.
“One of our teams that returned from Chautara in Sindhupalchowk district reported that 90 percent of the homes are destroyed,” said Jagan Chapagain, Asia head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, adding, “The hospital has collapsed, and people are digging through the rubble with their hands in the hope that they might find family members who are still alive.”
Sources say almost all the houses have been so severely damaged that they were no longer habitable, and locals are sleeping in makeshift tents across several rural regions.
The developments come as Nepal’s government struggles to deal with the scale of the disaster. Nepal’s Prime Minister Sushil Koirala has recently warned that death toll could soar to as many as 10,000 as rescue teams reach far-flung villages and towns.
The United Nations estimates that some 8 million people have been affected by the disaster, more than 1.4 million people are in urgent need of food supplies and tens of thousands have been left homeless.
The UN said that around 70,000 houses had been destroyed and another 530,000 damaged as a result of the quake.
