Nepal earthquake: Thousands more feared dead as rescuers battle to reach inaccessible villages

Dozens stranded in sub-zero temperatures on Everest where many climbers have perished

An injured person is carried to a helicopter to be airlifted out of Everest Base Camp, where 17 climbers were killed in avalanches triggered by the quake (AFP/Getty)

After survivors were left to fend for themselves in the first hours, tearing at heaps of rubble with their bare hands, rescue workers began to reveal the full impact of Nepal’s worst earthquake in 80 years, which has claimed more than 2,500 lives.

Nepal, one of the poorest, and most inaccessible countries in Asia, is struggling to emerge from a nightmare which has rendered much of its capital, Kathmandu, uninhabitable. But the true scale of the country’s suffering may be yet to emerge.

Mudslides have prevented rescue workers from reaching many of the mountain communities where up to two million people farm rice terraces.

Hundreds of thousands of survivors prepared for a second night outdoors yesterday. “Almost everyone has slept outside,” said Santosh Sharma of the humanitarian agency Care International. “There is no electricity, and soon there will be a scarcity of water.”

Meanwhile, 160 miles to the east, another rescue mission was under way after at least 17 climbers on Mt Everest were killed when avalanches hit Base Camp. Dozens were stranded last night. “Please pray for everyone,” tweeted Daniel Mazur, an expedition leader from Bristol.

The disaster also destroyed dozens of temples and monuments in the Unesco World Heritage sites of Patan and Bhaktapur in the Kathmandu valley. It has cast a dark shadow over the nation’s prospects.