As the death toll in Nepal reached 6,900, local authorities on Saturday ruled out the possibility of finding more survivors in the rubble of fallen buildings.
“We are trying our best in rescue and relief work but now I don’t think that there is any possibility of finding survivors,” Home Ministry spokesman Laxmi Prasad Dhakal said.
A spokesperson for the Nepal Army also told The Hindu that while the various teams stationed in remote areas had not given up looking for survivors, the focus would now move to delivering food supplies and materials for shelter like tents and tarpaulins.
Providing shelter is now the most important priority. “In about a month the monsoon will set in and it will rain continuously for about three months,” he said.
Over 14,000 people have been injured in the quake and the figures for the number of houses destroyed or damaged increase day by day as more remote areas are reached. A spokesperson from the UN said the initial estimate for the number of destroyed houses was 70,000; that had nearly doubled now.
There is also increasing tension now between international humanitarian agencies and the Nepal government as the UN accused Customs officials of holding up relief materials coming by truck from across the border.
