The largest traditional animal sacrifice in the world began last weekend in
southern Nepal with an estimated 4,000 buffalo, goats, and pigeons slaughtered
on Friday alone.
The two-day festival, called Gadhimai Mela Festival, takes place at the Gadhimai
temple about 100 miles south of Kathmandu. & NOW JUST A DAY AGO THEY
HAVE AN EARTHQUAKE THAT KILLS 1000/S WHO SAID GOD IS NOT REAL???>
WE BELIEVE THE ALL LOVING, ALL HOLY, ALL WRATHFUL FATHER WANTS TO
HUMBLE COMPLETELY THE NEPALESE IN ORDER TO GRANT & IMPLANT
REPENTANCE TOWARD HIM ONLY.HEARING & TURNING TO THE GOSPEL OF
PEACE.
Nepal Death Toll Exceeds 6,200
Nepal's quake damage calls for $2 billion in reconstruction. (Reuters)
The death toll from Nepal's devastating earthquake rose steadily past 6,200 on
Friday as fresh aftershocks and the stench of rotting bodies made it hard for
nervous survivors to return to their homes.
Disposal of the hundreds of bodies still being found six days after the 7.9
magnitude quake devastated the Himalayan nation of 28 million people was
becoming a problem for officials, who have ordered immediate cremations.
"Morgues are full beyond capacity and we have been given instruction to
incinerate bodies immediately after they are pulled out," said Raman Lal, an
Indian paramilitary force official working in coordination with Nepali forces.
Aid was slowly beginning to reach remote towns and villages nestled in the
mountains and foothills but the overpowering smell of bodies trapped beneath
the rubble of collapsed buildings in the capital was making it hard for residents to
return to their homes.
Many Nepalis have been sleeping in the open since Saturday's quake. According
to the United Nations, 600,000 houses have been destroyed or damaged.
Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat said Nepal would need at least $2 billion to
rebuild homes, hospitals, government offices and historic buildings and appealed
for help from international donors.
"This is just an initial estimate and it will take time to assess the extent of damage
and calculate the cost of rebuilding," Mahat told Reuters.
The United Nations has said 8 million people had been affected, with at least 2
million in need of tents, water, food and medicines over the next three months.
A home ministry official said the death toll had risen to 6,204, with 13,924
injured.
Information Minister Minendra Rijal said the government would provide $1,000 in
immediate assistance to the families of those killed, as well as $400 for cremation
or burial.
Prime Minister Sushil Koirala told Reuters earlier this week the death toll from the
quake could reach 10,000.
That would surpass the 8,500 who died in a 1934 earthquake, the last disaster on
this scale to hit the Himalayan nation sandwiched between India and China.
UNPRECEDENTED SCALE
Home ministry official Laxmi Prasad Dhakal said that, even though the 1934 quake
was more powerful, there were fewer people living in the Kathmandu valley then.
"The scale of reconstruction will be unprecedented," Dhakal said. "We have still
not even been able to assess the damage in remote areas, which have been
completely devastated."Officials have said the chances of finding any more
survivors were fading, even though a boy and a woman had on Thursday been
pulled from the rubble where they had lain trapped for five days.
As rescuers slowly started reaching outlying areas, witnesses reported seeing 70
to 80 percent of buildings severely damaged in Chautara, northeast of Kathmandu
towards the border with China's Tibet.
Anger over the pace of the rescue has flared in some areas, with Nepalis accusing
the government of being too slow to distribute international aid that has flooded
into the country.
It has yet to reach many in need, particularly in areas hard to reach given the
quake damage, poor weather and aftershocks.Tensions between foreigners and
Nepalis desperate to be evacuated have also surfaced. In Ashrang village in
Gorkha, one of the worst-hit districts about four hours by road west of
Kathmandu, hundreds of villagers were living outdoors with little food and water
even as boxes of biscuits, juice and sacks of rice and wheat were stored in a
nearby government office.Nepal is also appealing to foreign governments for
more helicopters help the 20 at work in rescue operations. China was expected to
send more, home ministry official Dhakal said.
In the Himalayas, climbing is set to reopen on Mount Everest next week after
damage caused by avalanches triggered by the quake is repaired, although many
have abandoned their ascents.
A massive avalanche killed 18 climbers and sherpa mountain guides at the Everest
base camp.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.
Nepal Death Toll Exceeds 6,200
southern Nepal with an estimated 4,000 buffalo, goats, and pigeons slaughtered
on Friday alone.
The two-day festival, called Gadhimai Mela Festival, takes place at the Gadhimai
temple about 100 miles south of Kathmandu. & NOW JUST A DAY AGO THEY
HAVE AN EARTHQUAKE THAT KILLS 1000/S WHO SAID GOD IS NOT REAL???>
WE BELIEVE THE ALL LOVING, ALL HOLY, ALL WRATHFUL FATHER WANTS TO
HUMBLE COMPLETELY THE NEPALESE IN ORDER TO GRANT & IMPLANT
REPENTANCE TOWARD HIM ONLY.HEARING & TURNING TO THE GOSPEL OF
PEACE.
Nepal Death Toll Exceeds 6,200
Nepal's quake damage calls for $2 billion in reconstruction. (Reuters)
The death toll from Nepal's devastating earthquake rose steadily past 6,200 on
Friday as fresh aftershocks and the stench of rotting bodies made it hard for
nervous survivors to return to their homes.
Disposal of the hundreds of bodies still being found six days after the 7.9
magnitude quake devastated the Himalayan nation of 28 million people was
becoming a problem for officials, who have ordered immediate cremations.
"Morgues are full beyond capacity and we have been given instruction to
incinerate bodies immediately after they are pulled out," said Raman Lal, an
Indian paramilitary force official working in coordination with Nepali forces.
Aid was slowly beginning to reach remote towns and villages nestled in the
mountains and foothills but the overpowering smell of bodies trapped beneath
the rubble of collapsed buildings in the capital was making it hard for residents to
return to their homes.
Many Nepalis have been sleeping in the open since Saturday's quake. According
to the United Nations, 600,000 houses have been destroyed or damaged.
Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat said Nepal would need at least $2 billion to
rebuild homes, hospitals, government offices and historic buildings and appealed
for help from international donors.
"This is just an initial estimate and it will take time to assess the extent of damage
and calculate the cost of rebuilding," Mahat told Reuters.
The United Nations has said 8 million people had been affected, with at least 2
million in need of tents, water, food and medicines over the next three months.
A home ministry official said the death toll had risen to 6,204, with 13,924
injured.
Information Minister Minendra Rijal said the government would provide $1,000 in
immediate assistance to the families of those killed, as well as $400 for cremation
or burial.
Prime Minister Sushil Koirala told Reuters earlier this week the death toll from the
quake could reach 10,000.
That would surpass the 8,500 who died in a 1934 earthquake, the last disaster on
this scale to hit the Himalayan nation sandwiched between India and China.
UNPRECEDENTED SCALE
Home ministry official Laxmi Prasad Dhakal said that, even though the 1934 quake
was more powerful, there were fewer people living in the Kathmandu valley then.
"The scale of reconstruction will be unprecedented," Dhakal said. "We have still
not even been able to assess the damage in remote areas, which have been
completely devastated."Officials have said the chances of finding any more
survivors were fading, even though a boy and a woman had on Thursday been
pulled from the rubble where they had lain trapped for five days.
As rescuers slowly started reaching outlying areas, witnesses reported seeing 70
to 80 percent of buildings severely damaged in Chautara, northeast of Kathmandu
towards the border with China's Tibet.
Anger over the pace of the rescue has flared in some areas, with Nepalis accusing
the government of being too slow to distribute international aid that has flooded
into the country.
It has yet to reach many in need, particularly in areas hard to reach given the
quake damage, poor weather and aftershocks.Tensions between foreigners and
Nepalis desperate to be evacuated have also surfaced. In Ashrang village in
Gorkha, one of the worst-hit districts about four hours by road west of
Kathmandu, hundreds of villagers were living outdoors with little food and water
even as boxes of biscuits, juice and sacks of rice and wheat were stored in a
nearby government office.Nepal is also appealing to foreign governments for
more helicopters help the 20 at work in rescue operations. China was expected to
send more, home ministry official Dhakal said.
In the Himalayas, climbing is set to reopen on Mount Everest next week after
damage caused by avalanches triggered by the quake is repaired, although many
have abandoned their ascents.
A massive avalanche killed 18 climbers and sherpa mountain guides at the Everest
base camp.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.
Nepal Death Toll Exceeds 6,200
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