Death toll climbs in Nepal quake

Posted April 25, 2015 7:17 am.

Last Updated April 30, 2015 12:14 pm.

This article is more than 5 years old.

A powerful earthquake struck Nepal and sent tremors through northern India on Saturday, killing hundreds of people, toppling a 19th-century tower in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu and triggering a fatal avalanche on Mount Everest.

More than 1,900 people were killed and 4,718 others were injured in the magnitude-7.8 earthquake, a spokesman for Nepal’s Home Ministry told CNN on Sunday. The numbers are likely to rise as rescuers resume their search in the daytime and reach more places, Home Ministry spokesman Krishna Wagla said.

Destruction in Kathmandu after an earthquake, April 25. 2015. PHOTO COURTESY: Rob Stiles

An avalanche triggered by a deadly earthquake buried a part of the base camp for climbers bound for Mount Everest, killing at least 17 people, the Associated Press said.

A tourism official, Gyanendra Shrestha, said the toll could go up. He said the climbers included foreigners as well as sherpas.

The Everest avalanches, first reported by climbers, raised fears for those on the world’s loftiest peak a year after a massive snowslide caused the deadliest incident yet there.

One of the survivors at Mt Makalu, 19 kilometres south east of Mt. Everest, Arjun Vajpai, said he hoped his fellow climbers survived the avalanche.

“Hello guys this is Arjun from Advanced Space Camp of Makalu. We’ve had lot of disturbance here due to the earthquake which was reported in Nepal. All along that base that’s covered in two clouds we had quite a big few avalanches coming down off those phases. From here we had a bit of rockfall. Most of our team is okay, we are doing well, some of our team members just moved up today towards camp-1 and camp-2. We still do not have any report from them, We are trying to get in touch with them. Some people have gone up towards camp-1. We should hear from them soon, I hope all is well up there. See you,” said Vajpai.

An avalanche in April 2014 just above the base camp on Mount Everest killed 16 Nepali guides. April is one of the most popular times to scale Everest before rain and clouds cloak the mountain at the end of next month.

The worst quake to hit the impoverished Himalayan nation in 81 years also caused damage in neighboring Indian states and Bangladesh. The quake was shallow, intensifying the amount of energy released over a relatively small area.

Kathmandu after an earthquake, April 25. 2015. PHOTO COURTESY: Rob Stiles