Nepal Quake Death Toll May Rise, Gov’t Says

It is feared that the death toll could rise further as rescue workers have not been able to reach some remote areas.

The government says hopes have faded for finding anyone still alive.

Bodies are still being pulled from the debris of ruined buildings.

Meanwhile, the government put the number of injured at more than 14,350.

In the capital Kathmandu, many unclaimed bodies were being quickly cremated because of the need to avert disease and reduce the stench of corpses in areas where buildings had collapsed.

"Morgues are full beyond capacity and we have been given instructions to incinerate bodies immediately after they are pulled out," said Raman Lal, an Indian paramilitary force official working in coordination with Nepali forces.

Registering with embassies

Many of the dead could be migrant workers from neighbouring India, local officials said.

The head of the European Union delegation in Nepal said up to 1,000 Europeans were still unaccounted for, mostly around popular trekking routes.

Officials said it was hard to trace the missing because many backpackers do not register with their embassies.

The 7.8-magnitude quake reduced much of Kathmandu to rubble and triggered a deadly avalanche on Mount Everest when it erupted at around midday last Saturday.

While teams of rescuers from more than 20 countries have been using sniffer dogs and heat-seeking equipment to find survivors in the rubble, no one has been pulled alive since Thursday evening.

As hopes of detecting more signs of life among the ruins have all but disappeared, the focus is shifting to reaching survivors in far-flung areas who have yet to receive relief supplies.

by Musalia Wycliffe

Source: Reuters