Nepal scrambles to rescue survivors of an earthquake that killed at least 128
- The quake occurred at 11:47pm on Friday with a magnitude 6.4, Nepal’s National Seismological Centre said
- The quake is the deadliest since 2015 when about 9,000 people were killed in two earthquakes in the Himalayan country
The death toll was expected to rise as communications were still cut off in many places, officials said on Saturday.
“The priority is to find the survivors and take them to hospital,” said regional police chief, Bhim Dhakal, “while we recover bodies of the deceased.”
Troops were clearing roads and mountain trails blocked by landslides triggered by the earthquake. Helicopters flew in medical workers and medicines to the hospitals there.
Security forces on the ground were digging out the injured and dead from the rubble, Nepal police spokesman Kuber Kadayat said.
At the regional hospital in the city of Nepalgunj, more than 100 beds were made available and teams of doctors stood by to help the injured.
“I was fast asleep when all of a sudden it started shaking violently. I tried to run but the whole house collapsed. I tried escaping but half my body got buried in the debris,” said Bimal Kumar Karki, one of the first people to be brought to the regional hospital.
“I screamed, but every one of my neighbours was in the same situation and screaming for help. It took nearly a half-hour to an hour before rescuers found me,” he said.