News

Earthquake in Nepal: Order of Malta’s international relief service, Malteser International, sends assessment team

Emergency relief team arrives in Nepal today

Cologne, 26 April 2015

Nepal-rescue workers pull a survivor from the rubble

First aid workers from Malteser International are on their way to Nepal. An assessment team was dispatched to the region this morning. On the ground, they will evaluate the situation and begin setting in motion the first emergency relief measures. The Nepalese government has declared a state of emergency and has called for international assistance. 

“Medical infrastructure on the ground has been overwhelmed: the hospitals are overflowing; they need medications and dressings. Support equipment isn’t there. People are digging in the rubble with their bare hands. Communication on the ground is difficult, mobile phones are barely functioning,” says Oliver Hochedez, Malteser International’s Emergency Relief Coordinator.

By this morning, the official death toll from Nepalese authorities is estimated at over 2,000, and expected to rise. The earthquake which struck Nepal on Saturday morning, its epicentre 80 km from the capital, Kathmandu, was 7.8 on the Richter scale. It was also felt in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. An aftershock of magnitude 6.7 was reported in the region this morning.

Photo: Narendra Shendra/EPA.
Malteser International has been running projects in Nepal since September 2012.