British money and aid pour into Nepal

BRITONS donated hundreds of thousands of pounds to help ease the plight of Nepal’s earthquake victims yesterday as the government promised another £5million towards the massive international relief mission.

Within hours of actress Joanna Lumley making the televised appeal on behalf of the Disasters Emergency Committee, money was said to be pouring in. A second appeal was made by actor Ewan McGregor on for the UN’s children’s charity Unicef.

As donations continue to roll in, the government’s emergency committee COBRA will discuss the disaster today after increasing the UK’s aid contribution to £15m.

The package includes trauma medics, heavy lifting equipment and humanitarian experts amid fears the death toll from Saturday’s earthquake will exceed 10,000. Gur- kha engineers and soldiers are already on the ground, with 60 British search-and-rescue experts to be joined by signals specialists to help restore communications across the devastated country.

Britain is also said to be preparing to send three Chinook helicopters to help with airlifts of supplies on the mountainsides around Everest, while two plane loads of supplies from the UK are due to arrive today.

The equipment will help ease relief agencies, who are facing a logistical nightmare in their efforts to reach Nepal. Its only airport is over-run and dozens of planes are awaiting landing slots in India.

As aftershocks and landslides continued to shake the country, the UN warned that eight million people have been affected by the earthquake – and many of them still have not been reached, with all major routes blocked or damaged.

One hospital was reported to have collapsed with the patients inside, while whisky is being used to sanitise open wounds because of the chronic shortage of medicines.

International Development Secretary Justine Greening said: ‘The UK is playing a leading role in response to the Nepal earthquake.

‘We are boosting the British humanitarian effort by deploying more medics to treat the injured and delivering supplies that will help get aid through, including heavy lifting equipment to ensure supplies at Kathmandu airport can reach those in need.’

Yesterday Nepal’s Prime Minister Sushil Koirala declared three days of national mourning. He said his country was on a ‘war footing’ but was overwhelmed and appealed for more international aid.