Update | Nepal PM says quake death toll ‘could reach 10,000’ as rescuers struggle to reach epicentre towns
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Rescuers in Nepal battled to reach remote communities devastated by a huge earthquake, with the number of dead reaching 4,349, as the impoverished country’s leader warned the death toll could rise to 10,000.
With the UN estimating eight million people have been affected by the disaster, Prime Minister Sushil Koirala said getting help to some of the worst affected areas was still a “major challenge”.
Koirala told an emergency all-party meeting that the government was sending tents, water and food supplies to those in need. But he said authorities were overwhelmed by appeals for help from remote Himalayan villages left devastated by Saturday’s 7.8-magnitude quake.
There are fears the death toll could jump once rescuers discover the full extent of devastation in villages outside Kathmandu.
Koirala said the death toll could reach 10,000 – worse than the 8,500 killed in a massive 1934 quake, the country’s worst disaster yet.
Home ministry spokesman Laxmi Prasad Dhakal said 7,953 people were known to have been injured.
