At least 21 Chinese have died in Nepal and Tibet, with dozens more missing, following an earthquake that struck outside Kathmandu on Saturday, according to reports.
More than 600 Chinese tourists were trapped in Nepal, Xinhua reported. Fourteen flights between China and the Himalayan nation were scheduled for Sunday, including three carrying relief materials.
China Southern Airlines is sending an extra aircraft to pick up tourists, at the request of the embassy in Kathmandu.
Four of the Chinese deaths were in Nepal and the remaining 17 were in Tibet, state-run China News Service reported. Many more people were missing or injured following the magnitude 7.8 earthquake, it said.
Cheng Wen, a senior embassy official, told state-run broadcaster CCTV the deaths in Nepal were two construction workers in Pokhara, and a tourist and a climber at Mount Everest, where the quake triggered a huge avalanche.
In Tibet, four people were missing and 55 injured, Xinhua reported. More than 1,100 buildings and a temple were destroyed or heavily damaged. Rescuers had evacuated 12,000 people by the morning.