Shock after shock; Nepal toll nears 2,500

Kathmandu, April 26 

Powerful aftershocks jolted Nepal on Sunday as the Himalayan nation struggled to cope with the aftermath of a devastating earthquake that had struck a day earlier, killing nearly 2,500 people and flattening hundreds of buildings.

A strong 6.7-magnitude aftershock followed by another measuring 6.5 on the Richter Scale, sent people scrambling for open spaces.

Rain added to the misery of rescuers who struggled to  wade through tonnes of rubble to look for survivors. 

With no electricity, Kathmandu looked a ghost town. Rain forced the closure of the airport where chaotic scenes were witnessed with stranded foreign tourists desperate to go home.

The 7.9-magnitude temblor yesterday left a trail of devastation and suffering, with people spending the cold night in the open because of fears of fresh quake. According to the latest figures available with the Kathmandu-based National Emergency Operation Centre, the death toll in Nepal stood at 2,460 and 6,239 had been injured.

As many as 1,053 people are reported killed in the Kathmandu Valley alone. Officials fear the death toll could rise as desperate search for survivors continued. International rescue teams, including from India, have touched down here as Nepal declared a state of emergency in the wake of the disaster, the worst in over 80 years of the country's recorded history.

Rescuers have been hunting for survivors under heaps of debris with bare hands as well as heavy equipment though the efforts have been hampered due to fresh tremors, thunderstorms and snowfall in the mountain ranges.

Officials here said five Indians, including the daughter of an Indian embassy employee, were among those killed in the quake. — Agencies