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Nepal earthquake: Rescue effort intensifies

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Rescue efforts in Nepal are intensifying after nearly 2,000 people were killed on Saturday in the worst earthquake there in more than 80 years.

Many countries and charities have offered aid to deal with the disaster.

Seventeen people have been killed on Mount Everest by avalanches - the mountain's worst-ever disaster.

Meanwhile a powerful aftershock was felt on Sunday in Nepal, India and Bangladesh, and more avalanches were reported near Everest.

The 6.7 magnitude tremor, centred 60km (40 miles) east of Nepal's capital Kathmandu, sent people running in panic for open ground in the city.

Screams and the sound of an avalanche could be heard as an Indian mountaineer was interviewed by phone from near Everest by Reuters news agency.

Scores of people slept outside on Saturday night - braving wet and cold weather - either because their homes were destroyed or because they feared numerous aftershocks.

World leaders and global charities have offered emergency aid to Nepal, as the government grapples with the scale of the disaster.

India is at the forefront of the relief effort, offering help including helicopters which have been deployed to remote areas.

The United States, Britain, China, Pakistan and European Union countries are among those who have pledged aid. The US and China have both sent search-and-rescue teams.

"The absolute priority must be to reach people who are trapped and injured, and provide shelter and protection to those who have lost their homes," UK International Development Secretary Justine Greening said.

A number of international charities including Red Cross, Oxfam, Doctors Without Borders and Christian Aid are also sending teams to quake-hit areas.

"We do not yet know the scope of the damage, but this could be one of the deadliest and most devastating earthquakes since the 1934 tremor which devastated Nepal and [the Indian state of] Bihar," said International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) Asia-Pacific Director Jagan Chapagain.


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