“We have deployed all our resources for search and rescues,” Bam told AFP. “Helicopters have been sent to remote areas. We are sifting through the rubble where buildings have collapsed to see if we can find anyone.”
The fresh aftershocks forced Kathmandu airport to close for around an hour as air traffic controllers had to evacuate the tower. Several flights had to be diverted in mid-air.
The country’s cellphone network was working only sporadically, while large parts of the capital were without electricity.
– Devastation in Kathmandu –
AFP correspondents in Kathmandu reported that tremors were felt throughout the night, including one strong aftershock at dawn before the 6.7-magnitude follow-up quake that struck in the afternoon.
The historic nine-storey Dharahara tower, a major tourist attraction, was among the buildings brought down in Kathmandu Saturday, with at least a dozen bodies recovered from the ruins of the 19th-century structure.
As rescuers sifted through the huge mounds of rubble in the capital, hospitals were overwhelmed with victims who suffered multiple fractures and trauma while morgues were also overflowing with bodies.
“We have treated many people since yesterday, the majority children,” said Samir Acharya, a doctor at Nepal’s Annapurna Neurological Hospital.
“Most patients have head injuries or fractures. Two of our patients died, two are critical.”
At the city’s oldest Bir Hospital, an AFP correspondent saw grieving relatives trying to swat away flies from around a dozen bodies that had placed on the floor of the morgue after storage space ran out.
Acharya said medics were working out of a tent set up in a parking lot to cope with the number of injured, while some patients were too scared to stay in the building.
– ‘Just flattened me’ –
Experienced mountaineers said panic erupted on Saturday at base camp, which has been “severely damaged”, while one described the avalanche as “huge”.
“We have airlifted 52 from the base camp so far, 35 have been brought to Kathmandu,” said Tulsi Gautam of Nepal’s tourism department which issues permits to climb the world’s highest mountain.
“Those who are able are walking down. Others are being airlifted.”
George Foulsham, a Singapore-based marine biologist, described the moment disaster struck.
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