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NEPAL EARTHQUAKE – Rescue work in progress entire world is come to help

Many countries including India and international charities have offered helping hands to Nepal in this hard time to deal with the disaster. There is news
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KATHMANDU, NEPAL - Emergency rescue workers carry a victim on a stretcher after Dharara tower collapsed on April 25, 2015 in Kathmandu, Nepal. More than 1800 people have died as tremors hit Nepal after an earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale caused buildings to collapse and avalanches to be triggered in the Himalayas. Authorities have warned that the death toll is likely to be much higher. (Photo by Omar Havana/Getty Images)
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Rescue efforts in Nepal are intensifying after more than 1,800 people were killed in the country’s worst earthquake in more than 80 years.

Many countries including India and international charities have offered helping hands to Nepal in this hard time to deal with the disaster. There is news of more than 17 people being killed on mount Everest that includes one the Google employee. Officials fear that the death toll could rise as the desperate search for survivors continues. Scores of bodies have been ferried to hospitals in Kathmandu, many of which are struggling to cope with the number of injured. Medics are expecting a fresh influx of patients on Sunday as supplies run low.

Rescuers in places used their bare hands to dig for survivors still buried underneath piles of rubble and debris overnight on Saturday. Army officer Santosh Nepal told the Reuters news agency that he and his soldiers had to dig a passage into a collapsed three-storey residential building in Kathmandu using pickaxes because bulldozers could not get through the ancient city’s narrow streets. “We believe there are still people trapped inside,” he told Reuters. The 7.8 magnitude quake struck an area of central Nepal between the capital, Kathmandu, and the city of Pokhara on Saturday morning.

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People slept outside in Kathmandu on Saturday either because their homes were destroyed or because they feared aftershocks

According to the latest home ministry figures around 1,805 people were killed and 4,718 people were injured. There were also victims in India, Bangladesh and in the Chinese region of Tibet. Little information has emerged from the epicentre, where extensive damage has been reported, and there are fears the death toll could rise yet further. It is the worst earthquake to strike Nepal since one in 1934 which killed some 8,500 people.

“Our country is in a moment of crisis and we will require tremendous support and aid.” Said the official from Nepal Hundreds of people were found sleeping on the streets on the night of Saturday braving wet and cold weather either due to their homes were destroyed or because they in fear of numerous aftershocks. government struggles with the scale of the disaster. Though Its task has made harder due to the entire breakdown of the communication system in Nepal. The internet and mobile phone communications are erratic, with many roads closed due to quake damage. The United States, China, Pakistan, Srilanka and European Union countries are among those who have promised aid along with India, which is at the forefront of the relief effort. Nepal pledged $1m (£660,000) in initial aid while the US Agency for International Development sent an urban search and rescue team.

Aid - such as this material from Sri Lanka - has gradually started to arrive in Nepal
Aid – such as this material from Sri Lanka – has gradually started to arrive in Nepal

The Inrernational federation of Red Cross Soceity has also offered its help to the earthquake effected people of Nepal “We do not yet know the scope of the damage, but this could be one of the deadliest and most devastating earthquakes since the 1934 tremor which devastated Nepal and [the Indian state of] Bihar,” said International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) Asia-Pacific Director Jagan Chapagain. The IFRC said it was especially worried about the fate of villages near the epicentre of the quake, some 80km from the capital Kathmandu.

US search and rescue teams are preparing for deployment across Nepal
US search and rescue teams are preparing for deployment across Nepal

In Europe, Britain, Germany and Spain pledged assistance, with Norway pledging $3.9m in humanitarian aid. “The absolute priority must be to reach people who are trapped and injured, and provide shelter and protection to those who have lost their homes,” UK International Development Secretary Justine Greening said.


LIST OF THE OFFERS OF AID

  • The US is sending a disaster response team and has released an initial $1m (£0.7m) according to the US aid agency USAid
  • India has sent several aircraft, carrying medical supplies and a mobile hospital, as well as a 40-strong disaster response team, including rescuers with dogs
  • The UK is sending an eight-strong team of humanitarian experts
  • Pakistan is sending four C-130 aircraft carrying a 30-bed field hospital and army doctors and specialists; urban search-and-rescue teams equipped with radars and sniffer dogs; and food items, including 2,000 meals, 200 tents and 600 blankets
  • Norway has promised 30 million krone (£2.5m; $3.9m) in humanitarian assistance
  • Germany, Spain, France, Israel and the European Union are also pledging to send aid

Foreign climbers and their Nepalese guides around Mount Everest were caught by the tremors and a huge avalanche. As well as the 17 confirmed deaths, 61 people were injured when part of the base camp was buried under snow. Helicopters trying to airlift the injured to Kathmandu were delayed by cloudy weather, but have now managed to land at the base camp. Dan Fredinburg, a Google executive who described himself as an adventurer, has also been killed, Google confirmed.

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Google has launched the person finder app

Google has launched the person finder app in Nepal to help missing victims of the Nepal earthquake. According to Google Person Finder is a free tool that helps friends and family members search for missing persons after a calamity. People can request and provide information about missing persons on the site. Google Person Finder has been assisting the world in face of calamities since 2010 Haiti earthquake and has helped numerous people to reconnect with their loved ones after disasters. It was also launched in India after the devastating 2013 Uttarakhand floods.

Search is also available through SMS in India and the US. Users just have to text “search ” to +91-9773300000 in India or +1-650-800-3978 in the US. All data which is part of the Google Person Finder is public and anyone can search for it. Press, NGO’s etc can all add to the database and there’s also a Person Finder API to get updates on the same.

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