Thousands still missing after Nepal quake

Thousands of people were still missing in Nepal on Friday as food and help began to trickle through to those stranded in remote areas after last week’s earthquake which killed 6,250. The death toll could rise further. Bodies are still being pulled from the debris of ruined buildings, while rescue workers have not been able to reach some remote areas. The government put the number of injured at more than 14,350. In the capital Kathmandu, many unclaimed bodies were being quickly cremated because of the need to avert disease and reduce the stench of corpses in areas where buildings had collapsed.

Morgues are full beyond capacity and we have been given instruction to incinerate bodies immediately after they are pulled out.

Raman Lal, an Indian paramilitary force official

Many of the dead could be migrant workers from neighbouring India, local officials said. The head of the European Union delegation in Nepal said up to 1,000 Europeans were still unaccounted for, mostly around popular trekking routes. Officials said it was hard to trace the missing because many backpackers do not register with their embassies. Aid was slowly reaching remote towns and villages nestled in the Himalayan mountains and foothills of the impoverished nation. But government officials said efforts to step up the pace of delivery were frustrated by a shortage of supply trucks and drivers, many of whom had returned to their villages to help their families.

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