Death toll from earthquakes now highest in Nepal’s history

Rescuers search for dozens of people still missing in remote villages

A street vendor in Patan, Nepal. The death toll for Nepal’s May 12th earthquake is now 117, separate from the 8,202 victims claimed by the April quake. Photograph: Mast Irham/EPA
A street vendor in Patan, Nepal. The death toll for Nepal’s May 12th earthquake is now 117, separate from the 8,202 victims claimed by the April quake. Photograph: Mast Irham/EPA

The number of people killed in Nepal by two major earthquakes has surpassed 8,500, making the disaster the Himalayan country's deadliest on record, as rescuers searched for dozens of people still missing in remote villages.

The death toll from the two quakes – the first on on April 25th and the second last Tuesday – now stands at 8,583, the home ministry said. The previous deadliest earthquake to strike the country – in 1934 – killed at least 8,519 in Nepal, as well as thousands more in India.

In Dolakha district, east of Kathmandu, which was hit hardest by the second quake, dozens of landslides have blocked access to villages.

In Singati village, devastated by a landslide, dozens are still missing and rescue workers have yet to remove debris from all of the village to recover bodies. – (Reuters)