Feature: Earthquakes compel Nepalese to spend sleepless night in open air

Sixty- year old R. Sumsher Thapa from the capital could not close his eyes for a single minute on Saturday night as the aftershocks came almost every hour.

His whole family spent the chill night in the open air in the capital with limited clothes and empty stomach as their 120-year old three-storey building was reduced to rubbles.

Adding to this tragedy, he lost his 80-year old mother and a younger sister who got trapped inside the house. It took almost 4 hours for a rescue team to get the bodies out of the rubbles.

"In front of my eyes, I saw my beautiful house turned into dust and rubbles. The building can be constructed again but I cannot get my mother and sister back," Thapa told Xinhua with tears in his eyes.

Following the massive 7.9-magnitude quake that hit Nepal at midday on Saturday, a total of 1,896 people had lost their lives, figures from the Home Ministry said Sunday.

However, the death toll will keeping rising every hour as many are still trapped in rubbles in many places and thousands sustained injuries are undergoing treatment in hospitals.

Almost all the people in Kathmanduties spent their night in open air, seeking safety for their lives.

The aftershocks barred people from staying inside their houses. They have been staying in grounds, streets and open spaces with the family members and children.

Rama Bhattarai, 28-years old, has not entered her rented room in New Baneshwor since Saturday afternoon. As a permanent resident from eastern Nepal, she has been living in the capital for further studies with her younger brother.

Both of them, along with some 100 locals, spent the night in the ground of a secondary school.

"I did not have courage to visit my room and prepare food or bring bed sheets and blankets. We spent the night talking with each other in single jacket and a bottle of juice."

Kathmandu, with a population of 4 million, lacks enough parks, grounds or open spaces for all the people owing to high urbanization. The only large open space located in the heart of the city, along with a pavilion ground Tudikhel, has been occupied by thousands of people since Saturday noon.

Similarly, people of all three districts, namely Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur, spent the night in the streets, grounds, local yards and premise of banquets, schools and colleges, organizations and government offices.

People survived the terrific night of Saturday, ignoring hunger and cool weather. Few of them had a packet of noodle and a bottle of water in their hands, while the majority had nothing to eat or drink.

Rescue teams have been mobilized in different parts of the capital in the initiation of the Nepal Army, Nepal Police, Armed Police Force, local youths and members of different organizations.

The Nepal government has already declared a national crisis and appealed fro assistance from the international community after the devastating quake. Endi