Off the wire
• Urgent: Chinese president arrives in Belarus for state visit  • 1st Lead: Malaysia Airlines Colombo-bound flight makes turn back due to "intoxicated passenger"  • Aftershokcs continue in Nepal, 3 occurred within 12 hours  • Urgent: 4 killed in northern Switzerland shooting  • Int'l aid bodies leave S. Sudan's northern state due to heavy fighting  • Lock-up shares worth over 60 bln yuan eligible for trade  • 1st LD-Writethru: Taliban overran district in Afghan northwest province  • Rebel Houthi group, Yemeni army welcome Saudi proposal for ceasefire  • China likely to raise oil prices  • Grizzlies take series lead 2-1 over Warriors  
You are here: 　 Home

Nepal's health minister says quake death toll not to top 10,000

Xinhua, May 10, 2015 Adjust font size:

Nepal's health minister said here Sunday that the death toll of the April 25 earthquake would not exceed 10,000 as some have predicted.

"The total death toll will be around 8,000-9,000," Minister of Health and Population Khagaraj Adhikari told Xinhua in an exclusive interview in his office on Sunday.

He said it was "fortunate" that the 7.9-magnitude earthquake took place during daytime and on Saturday when "most of the people were in agricultural fields or out of home."

"If the quake occurred during night or working days, the disaster would have taken more lives," the minister said.

According to the update of the Nepalese Ministry of Home Affairs, as of Sunday the quake already left 7,913 people dead and 17,871 others injured.

The Nepal Red Cross Society gave an update on Saturday, saying 7,885 people died in the quake while 16,958 others were injured, down from the tally of 8,413 deaths and 17,576 injured it put three days ago. Endi