Spotlight: Hope diminishes for finding more quake survivors in Nepal

Despite unrelenting efforts by rescuers to dig the rubble at various sites in Nepal, chances of finding survivors are getting small since a week has passed after the powerful magnitude-7.9 earthquake.

At least 7,000 people have been confirmed dead in the disaster, with the number of injured exceeding 14,000. Over 600,000 buildings have collapsed nationwide and several heritage sites damaged or destroyed.

Since Thursday there has been no reports of survivors found under the rubble and the rescue teams, which bring with them sniff dogs and life detectors, have only retrieved dead bodies.

SHORTAGE OF EMERGENCY SUPPLIES

As the possibility of finding survivors under the rubble is diminishing, the focus is now gradually shifting to disaster relief.

Preliminary estimate put the demand of tents nationwide at 600,0000, with the authorities distributed only 50,000 so far.

Some areas affected by the quake have been in dire need of food and safe drinking water but they have only received small amount of deliveries by helicopters since roads are blocked in landslides.

So far relief supplies have reached the headquarters of all affected districts and it is expected that supplies will soon be airdropped to those remote villages cut off by landslides, according to Home Ministry spokesman Laxmi Prasad Dhakal.

The spokesman also appealed for members of the international community to send in more helicopters to help with the relief effort.

In response to criticism over the slow process of customs at Kathmandu airport, a government minister explained that customs control is necessary to avoid unneeded supplies.

"We have received things like tuna and mayonnaise. What good are those things for us? We need grains, salt and sugar," Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat told reporters.

LOOMING RISK OF POST-QUAKE EPIDEMIC

Besides the shortage of supplies, another challenge facing the quake-hit Himalayan country is the possibility of epidemics.

The United Nations warned earlier in a report that diarrhea was already a growing problem and a measles outbreak was feared due to a shortage of vaccines.

Villagers in Khokana in Lalitpur district near the capital were already suffering from an outbreak of diarrhea, Nepal state news agency RSS reported.

The lack of public toilets and scarce hygiene measures in several large camping areas in the capital city also caused severe public health concern.

Bodies still buried under the rubble pose another threat and the coming monsoon season could make the matter worse, public health experts said.

In the county of Bhaktapur, about 13 km to the east of Kathmandu, a Chinese NGO has been conducting search and rescue efforts in the past few days.

"Human remains found in the rubble are not properly dealt with and that is a grave risk. People here are in emergent need of medicines and facial masks," head of the team Xue Yu told Xinhua. Endi