As the death toll from the devastating earthquake in Nepal four days ago passed 5,000 on Wednesday, officials conceded they had made mistakes in their response. The mistakes left survivors stranded in remote villages waiting for aid and relief.
Over 200 Nepalis protested outside parliament in the capital of Kathmandu on Wednesday. They demanded the government increase the number of buses going to the interior hills of the country and improve distribution of aid.
“I haven’t been able to contact my family members in the village,” said Kayant Panday, who said he woke up at 4am to get a bus to a badly damaged area but was not able to get one. “There is no way I can get information whether they are dead or alive.”
The government has not fully assessed the devastation caused by Saturday’s 7.8 magnitude quake as it has been unable to reach many of the mountainous areas despite aid supplies and personnel pouring in from around the world.
Anger and frustrations are mounting, with many Nepalis sleeping under the starts using makeshift tents for a fourth night since the country’s worst earthquake in more than 80 years.
“This is a disaster on an unprecedented scale. There have been some weaknesses in managing the relief operation,” Nepal’s Communication Minister Minendra Rijal told media late on Tuesday.
“We will improve this from Wednesday.”
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