Four days after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake shook the Himalayan nation of Nepal, the rubble of most collapsed buildings in Kathmandu remains untouched. With debris, scattered across Kathmandu valley, a pall has descended over the normally lively capital. Most heartbreaking though, is the knowledge that bodies are still buried beneath the rubble.
At least 8 million people have been affected by the disaster and at least 1.4 million people are in need of food and clean water.
The death toll from Nepal’s worst earthquake in eight decades has already crossed 5,000, and Prime Minister Sushil Koirala has said it could rise to 10,000, even as hundreds of thousands remain homeless. The emotional toll will be far worse, as survivors strive to rebuild their lives in this nation of 28 million people.