Nepal steps up rescue efforts as quake toll jumps to 1,800
Nepal ramped up efforts on April 25 to rescue people trapped in the rubble of collapsed buildings after an earthquake devastated the heavily crowded Kathmandu valley, killing at least 1,800, and triggered a deadly avalanche on Mount Everest.
The Nepal government urged nations to send aid and braced for the toll to rise after rescuers overnight were hampered by strong aftershocks, blocked highways and a lack of equipment. People used their hands in many places to dig for survivors.
Authorities also scrambled to provide shelter in the capital, Kathmandu, for thousands of people who spent the night outside in freezing temperatures and patchy rain, too afraid to return to their damaged homes.
At daybreak on April 25, people milled about in parks and streets strewn with rubble. The 7.9 magnitude quake struck at midday on April 24 at a busy time of year for the tourism-reliant country's trekking and climbing season, with an estimated 300,000 foreign tourists in the country.
Nepal's home ministry put the death toll at 1,805, with about 4,700 injured. At least 300 had been killed in the capital, a city of about 1 million people where homes are often old, flimsy and packed close together.
Rescue workers worked through the night using bulldozers, pick axes and shovels to free those who were trapped.