Nepal Quake Death Toll Passes 3,000.

A deadly earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 7.8 shook Nepal on Saturday near its capital, Katmandu setting off avalanches around Mount Everest and flattening sections of the city’s historic center and on sunday, the death toll rose to 2,200 with about 5,800 people injured.

Powerful aftershocks continues to convulse Nepal sending residents of Katmandu screaming into the streets again and again.

On Sunday, the government began setting up 16 relief stations across Katmandu and the rest of the country while rescue operations continued. The relief stations are expected to ease distribution of water, food and medicine, said Laxmi Prasad Dhakal, a Ministry of Home Affairs spokesman.

The Home Ministry said Sunday that 2,263 had been confirmed dead and 5,800 injured.

Thousands of Katmandu’s residents squatted on streets throughout the city either because their homes were destroyed or continued aftershocks, including one of magnitude 6.7, left them too afraid to go back inside. Other residents were camping out in schools, school playgrounds and government offices.

The government announced that schools would remain closed for at least five days and it pleaded with government workers to help in local rescue efforts in place of their usual jobs.

The United States State Department said Sunday that three American citizens had died in the quake, as reported by Reuters.

On Mount Everest, helicopter rescue operations began Sunday morning to bring wounded climbers down off the mountain, where at least 18 climbers were killed and another 41 injured, making the earthquake the deadliest event in the mountain’s history. Aftershocks and small avalanches throughout the daySunday continued to plague the nearly 800 people staying at the mountain base camp and at higher elevation camps.

Nepal’s existing political discord is likely to hamper rescue and rebuilding efforts. The government has been barely functional for more than a decade, with politicians of just about every stripe fighting over the scraps of the increasingly desperate economy. - Punch

photo credit - CNN