China joins global effort in frantic race to save lives in aftermath of Nepal earthquake
Aftershocks and impending rains make vital relief effort even more difficult as search for survivors buried beneath rubble continues
Countries around the world - including China - rushed aid to a desperate Nepal yesterday as the frantic race to find survivors in the impoverished nation hit by the worst earthquake for 80 years entered its third day.
Help arrived from many corners of the globe with rescue teams accompanied by heavy cutting gear and sniffer dogs landing around the clock at the country's only international airport on the outskirts of Kathmandu.
China sent a 58-member medical team, including psychiatric specialists, pharmacists and experts in bone treatment, along with four IL-76 transport aircrafts, according a military website sponsored by the . The medical team brought 13 tonnes of medical aid and was expected to stay for 10 days.
Meanwhile, a 62-member China International Search and Rescue Team (CISAR) arrived in Kathmandu to help too.
Saturday's disaster killed more than 3,800 people in one of Asia's poorest economies and international relief agencies were quick to warn of the rising risk of water-borne diseases.
Dozens of aftershocks - including one that reached a magnitude of 6.7 - have hindered rescue efforts since Saturday's 7.8-magnitude earthquake, adding to the chaos as panicked residents avoid returning to damaged homes.
"It seems very difficult to find survivors now," Rameshwor Dangal, joint secretary at Nepal's Home Ministry, said in Kathmandu. "Those trapped could be in the thousands, but it's difficult to estimate right now. Millions are homeless."
Nepalese authorities are appealing for tents, food, blankets and medicines as rain slows power restoration and other relief efforts, including the clearing away of corpses. The main quake that struck shortly before noon on Saturday triggered avalanches on Mount Everest, killing at least 19 climbers.
The International Monetary Fund, humanitarian groups and governments from India to Israel rushed to provide assistance to Nepal, one of Asia's poorest countries. While the earthquake also downed buildings and claimed lives in neighbouring India, Tibet and China, it was Nepal that suffered the brunt.
"Time is of the essence for the search and rescue operations," United Nations under secretary-general for humanitarian affairs Valerie Amos said.
Many people have slept in the open for two nights and require food, water and emergency shelter, while at least 940,000 children live in areas severely affected by the earthquake, the UN said.
About 3,000 patients were strewn in hallways, benches and courtyards at the 600-bed Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu, with staff struggling to treat all the wounded. Medical waste spilled out of a trash can next to a woman laying on a stretcher as doctors looked at X-rays outdoors. Many of the injured, including children, suffered broken bones and needed amputations.
"With rain it increases the chance of epidemic, seasonal flu or bacteria," said Suresh Kayastha, 28, a doctor at the hospital.
Many patients have open wounds that doctors are unable to treat due to a lack of manpower and supplies, he said.
Widespread rains are forecast to hit Nepal over the next 24 hours, threatening to further hinder relief efforts, the India Meteorological Department said on Sunday. It warned citizens to be beware of possible landslides.
"People will be terrified to be indoors. It means then that people will be exposed to the elements," Orla Fagan of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on .
Damage to Nepal's water and sewage systems raises the possibility of water-borne diseases, Fagan said.
"At this stage we're talking about really life-saving response," he explained.
The US Geological Survey initially estimated economic losses to Nepal from the quake at 9 per cent to 50 per cent of gross domestic product, with a best guess of 35 per cent. The ADB said it's too early to make an accurate assessment.
Tourism is a key economic driver for Nepal, which has a gross domestic product that is smaller than any of the 50 US states. Its 28 million people have the lowest spending power of any Asian country apart from Afghanistan, IMF statistics show. At Mount Everest, many climbers remain stranded in two camps above the base camp, said Zimba Zangbu Sherpa, a former president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association. The injured and survivors are being airlifted from the base camp to Kathmandu, according to Ang Tshering Sherpa, the association's current president.
Neighbouring India will rush more relief and rescue personnel to Nepal and increase supplies of medicine and food for the quake affected, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar told reporters in New Delhi. The country will also set up medical camps along its border with Nepal.
The Japanese government sent a rescue team while the UK dispatched more than 60 search and rescue and medical experts. Secretary of State John Kerry said the US would provide US$1 million in aid while Usaid was readying a disaster response team alongside an urban search and rescue team. A website backed by the International Committee of the Red Cross listed hundreds of foreign tourists in Nepal who remained missing.
Hundreds of people attempt to reach Everest's summit each year, typically paying a minimum of US$30,000 per person and often far more for the privilege, according to an estimate by magazine.
The rising numbers of climbers has drawn complaints about overcrowding, littering and heightened danger.
The Himalayan region is one of the world's most active seismic zones as the Indian subcontinent pushes north into the central Asia tectonic plate.
The 1934 earthquake in Nepal, just west of Sikkim, killed more than 16,000 people. A 2005 quake in Kashmir killed more than 70,000 in Pakistan.
