Nepal toll expected to soar

Kathmandu

The death toll from an earthquake that ripped through Nepal will climb “much higher”, the government warned yesterday, as relief teams raced to reach survivors of the disaster that has already claimed more than 7 000 lives.

Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat said the toll will jump once teams reached far-flung villages feared flattened in the worst quake to hit the impoverished Himalayan nation in 80 years.

“There are still villages where we know that all houses have been destroyed, but have not yet been able to reach,” Mahat said.

The 7.8-magnitude quake wreaked a trail of death and destruction when it struck around midday eight days ago.

After the government ruled out finding more people buried alive in the ruins of Kathmandu on Saturday, the focus has shifted to delivering food, tents and other relief to thousands in remote areas.

In the districts of Gorkha and Sindhupalchowk, almost 90% of the mostly stone and mud homes have been destroyed, the UN said in its latest situation report.

“Our priority now is really to try to reach those people, get immediate assistance to them,” the UN’s head of humanitarian affairs Valerie Amos said.

But Amos said on Saturday she was worried tons of foreign aid pouring into Nepal was being held up by red tape.

“I was extremely concerned to hear reports that customs was taking such a long time,” Amos told AFP, saying she had asked Prime Minister Sushil Koirala to speed up customs clearance for aid materials. –