Rescuers dug with
their bare hands and bodies piled up in Nepal on Sunday after an
earthquake devastated the heavily crowded Kathmandu Valley, killing more
than 2,200 people, and triggered a deadly avalanche on Mount Everest.
A big aftershock between
Kathmandu and Everest unleashed more avalanches in the Himalayas. In the
capital, hospital workers stretchered patients out onto the street to
treat them as it was too dangerous to keep them indoors.
"Another
one, we have an aftershock right now. Oh shit!" said Indian climber
Arjun Vajpai over the phone from Makalu base camp near Everest.
"Avalanche!" he shouted. Screams and the roar of crashing snow could be
heard over the line as he spoke.
The
tremor, measured at 6.7, was the most powerful since Saturday's 7.9
quake - itself the strongest since Nepal's worst earthquake disaster of
1934 that killed 8,500 people.
The aftershock rocked buildings in the Indian capital New Delhi and halted the city metro.
"There
is no way one can forecast the intensity of aftershocks so people need
to be alert for the next few days," said L.S. Rathore, chief of India's
state-run weather office.
In
Everest's worst disaster, the bodies of 17 climbers were recovered from
the mountain on Sunday after being caught in avalanches. A plane
carrying the first 15 injured climbers landed in Kathmandu at around
noon local time.
"There is a lot of
confusion on the mountain. The toll will rise," said Gelu Sherpa, one
of the walking wounded among the first 15 injured climbers flown to
Kathmandu. "Tents have been blown away," said Sherpa, his head in
bandages. Continue reading after the cut.
