Death toll rises above 3,000 : Nepal Earthquake

The magnitude-7.8 earthquake hit Nepal Saturday, toppling buildings in the impoverished nation’s capital of Katmandu and triggering an avalanche that buried part of the base camp at Mount Everest.

Climbers from around the globe travel to scale Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak, and among the 18 people killed in the avalanche there were Google executive Daniel Fredinburg, who was part of a Google team attempting to create a Google street map of the trek to Everest Base Camp, and Marisa Eve Girawong, an emergency room physician’s assistant serving as a base camp doctor for the Seattle-based Madison Mountaineering expedition company.

More than 6,500 people have been injured, according to the National Emergency Operation Centre.

Dozens of people are also reported to have been killed in neighbouring China and India. 

Rescue missions and aid have started arriving to help cope with the aftermath of the earthquake, the worst to hit Nepal for more than 80 years.

The weather cleared on Monday morning and helicopters are heading out to the Mount Everest base camp to try to bring down 210 stranded climbers.

The roads to the earthquake’s epicentre, northwest of the capital, have also been cleared and rescue teams are on their way.

The hospitals are overwhelmed by the number of injured and are running low on supplies, as well as running out of room for the tragic number of corpses. Many areas of the city are without power or water and food supplies are running low.

International assistance has begun to arrive as government agencies and aid groups rush doctors, volunteers and equipment into Katmandu’s reopened international airport.