The death toll from Nepal’s earthquake soared past 3,700 yesterday, and how further it will rise depended largely on the condition of vulnerable mountain villages that rescue workers were still struggling to reach.
Reports received so far by the government and aid groups suggest that many communities perched on mountainsides are devastated or struggling to cope.
Udav Prashad Timalsina, top official for the Gorkha district, near the epicenter of Saturday’s quake, said he desperately needed help.
“There are people who are not getting food and shelter. I’ve had reports of villages where 70% of the houses are destroyed,” he said.
He said 223 are confirmed dead in the district but he presumed “the number would go up because there are thousands injured.”
Saturday’s 7.8 earthquake spread horror from Kathmandu to small villages and to the slopes of Mount Everest, triggering an avalanche that buried part of the base camp packed with foreign climbers.
Udav said his district had not received enough government help, but Jagdish Pokhrel, army spokesman, said nearly the entire 100,000-soldier army was involved in rescue.
“We have 90% of the troops out there... We are focusing our efforts on that, on saving lives.”
Nepal police said that the death toll had risen to 3,617. That does not include the 18 people killed in the avalanche, which were counted by the mountaineering association. Another 61 were killed in neighboring India, and China reported 20 people dead in Tibet.
Well over 1,000 of the victims were in Kathmandu, the capital, where an eerie calm prevailed Monday.
Tens of thousands of families slept outdoors for a second night, fearful of aftershocks that have not ceased. Camped in parks, open squares and a golf course, they cuddled children or pets against chilly Himalayan nighttime temperatures.
