Eight million people have been affected by the massive earthquake in Nepal – more than a quarter of the country’s population, International aid has started arriving but there is still huge need – 1.4 million require food. A report of the United Nations says.
The death toll has risen to 4,310, with almost 8,000 injured, officials say.
But Prime Minister Sushil Koirala has warned the toll could reach 10,000, telling Reuters news agency the government was on a “war footing”.
The two quakes measuring 7.8-magnitude hit Nepal on Saturday destroying buildings in Kathmandu and severely affecting rural areas across the region.
There are heart rending scenes of parents looking for their children trapped under the debris of homes and shops, whose cries for help they could hear but after 24 hours fell silent.
Nepal and surrounding areas have continued to experience aftershocks. Thousands in Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital, spent a third night outside, too afraid to go back into their houses. This despite it raining intermittently, leading to very cold weather.
Water, food and electricity are in short supply and there are fears of outbreaks of disease.
“According to initial estimations and based on the latest earthquake intensity mapping, eight million people in 39 districts have been affected, of which over two million people live in the 11 severely affected districts,” said the most recent report from UN
