Nepal’s government urged foreign rescue workers in the quake-hit capital to return home on Monday as hundreds of people visited Buddhist shrines and monasteries to mark the birthday of Buddha.
Information Minister Minendra Rijal said the major rescue work in Kathmandu and surrounding areas have been completed and that the remaining operations can be handled by local workers. However, work remained in the villages and remote mountain areas and foreign aid volunteers could work with local police and Army rescuers in those areas, he said.
Since the April 25 earthquake, 4,050 rescue workers from 34 different nations have flown to Nepal to help in rescue operations, provide emergency medical care and distribute food and other necessities. The death toll from the quake, Nepal’s worst in more than 80 years, reached 7,276, police said.
At the Swayambhunath shrine, located atop a hill overlooking Kathmandu, hundreds of people chanted prayers as they walked around the hill where the white iconic stupa with its gazing eyes are located.
Authorities had to temporarily close Kathmandu’s main airport to large aircraft delivering aid due to runaway damage on Sunday, but U.N. officials said the overall logistics situation was improving.
The airport was built to handle only medium-size jetliners, but not the large military and cargo planes that have been flying in aid supplies, food, medicines, and rescue and humanitarian workers, said Birendra Shrestha, the manager of Tribhuwan International Airport.
