Nepal has ruled out finding more survivors buried in the ruins of Kathmandu
Saturday despite relatives refusing to give up hope. It has been one week on from an earthquake that killed more than 6,700 people.
Two days after any signs of life had been detected among the
mountains of rubble that litter the capital, the focus was shifting to reaching
survivors in far-flung areas who have yet to receive relief supplies.
The UN children’s fund UNICEF warned of a race against time
to avert an outbreak of disease among the 1.7 million youngsters estimated to
be living in the worst-hit areas, with monsoon rains just a few weeks away.
The 7.8-magnitude quake wreaked a trail of death and
destruction when it erupted around midday last Saturday, reducing much of
Kathmandu to rubble and even triggering a deadly avalanche on Mount Everest.
“It has already been one week since the disaster,” home
ministry spokesman Laxmi Prasad Dhakal told AFP.
“We are trying our best in rescue and relief work but now I
don’t think that there is any possibility of survivors under the rubble.”
As well as updating the death toll to 6,621, Dhakal put the
number of injured at 14,023. More than 100 were also killed in India and China.
