02 MAY 2015, KATHMANDU – Last Week’s devastating earthquake of 7.9 Magnitude in Central Nepal has its toll reached nearly 7000 casualties and double of the number are injured. As the week of search and rescue operation completes on Saturday, 6,686 people have been found dead while 1,432 were reported injured by the April 25 earthquake.
The highest numbers of the death toll is in the Central Development Region with 4,815, including 1,192 in Kathmandu, 289 in Bhaktapur and 191 in Lalitpur. The death toll has reached 418 in Western, 52 in Eastern and two in the Mid-Western Development Region. The number also includes 43 foreigners who lost their lives in Kathmandu, Solukhumbu, Makwanpur and Lalitpur.
A total of 5,929 dead bodies have been handed over to their relatives so far while over 250 corpses have been left unattended. The government has asked to collect the bodies in seven days else will be mass cremating them next week.
According the security agencies the search, rescue and relief operation has been further intensified mobilising around 90 percent of the total force of the country accompanied by the support from different friendly countries.
The Nepal Army (NA) which has been leading the search and rescue operation has said over 150 dead bodies were recovered and around 200 people were rescued so far. The Nepal Army has been launching Operation Sankat Mochan mobilizing around 90,000 staffs, while Nepal Police and Armed Police Force have mobilize 41,449 and 17,000 personnel respectively. Similarly, dozens of rescue squads from various friendly nations too are in the field working in the search, rescue and relief operation.
The armies from 12 countries are working in the different places for rescue along with their medical team. The numbers of the support team from the friendly countries are increasing every day. An additional of three rescue team from Bangladesh with 2.7 tons of relief materials, five rescue team with 20.9 ton of relief material from Oman and 25 ton of relief from Indian and 4.2 ton from Japan reached in the Capital on Friday. The 2,400 kilograms of relief from Canada too reached on Friday.
Over 300,000 buildings reported damaged or destroyed so far
More than 300,000 buildings were either damaged or destroyed in last Saturday’s earthquake, as per the data collected by the Home Ministry until Friday.
According to the ministry, the powerful quake destroyed 160,786 private houses and 10,445 government office buildings. Likewise, 143, 673 private houses and 14,201 government buildings suffered damages of some kind.
The ministry has instructed the district administration offices in all quake-hit regions to assess the physical damages incurred in the earthquake so that compensation and relief programme could be planned accordingly.
Twelve districts, namely Gorkha, Sindhupalchok, Dhading, Kavre, Dolakha, Nuwakot, Ramechhap, Sindhuli, Rasuwa, Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, and Lalitpur were badly hit by the earthquake.
Delay of procedures and slow working mechanism of Nepal government has hinders the rescue work and some of the villages are still at large from reaching by those in rescue operation due to remoteness and lack of co-ordination between government and local victims.
More than 30,000 Nepalese may have lost their life and several thousand will live with disability and a sad memory in their mind for life.
Source: Online Sources
