A Bahrain resident has described watching houses fall like dominoes and bodies being pulled from the rubble following another major earthquake that hit eastern Nepal yesterday (May 12).

The 7.3-magnitude quake near the Chinese border between the capital Kathmandu and Mount Everest came less than three weeks after a previous devastating tremor rocked the country, killing more than 8,000 people, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

Reports yesterday suggested that at least 68 more people had been killed by the new earthquake with more than 1,261 people injured. At least 17 people in India have also died.

Non-Resident Nepal Association (NRNA) of Bahrain president Tanka Basnet told the GDN from Kathmandu that the country was in chaos.

“Everything is a mess here with buildings and houses collapsed all around,” he said.

“We felt tremors on Monday night but then yesterday afternoon the earthquake forced many people out of their homes and temporary shelters.
“In many places there were landslides that blocked access for aid workers and trapped hundreds of people.

“It's like the entire country is out on the roads with damaged buildings and houses everywhere.”

Basnet had travelled to Kathmandu to meet NRNA heads following the previous earthquake on April 25 - he was due to leave the country yesterday, but his flight was cancelled due to the fresh disaster.

“The army, police and medical staff are doing their best but it's getting dangerous here now and people are panicking,” he said.

“I have even seen rescue teams pull out a dead body trapped under debris.”

Royal Charity Organisation (RCO) secretary-general Dr Mustafa Al Sayed, who returned from an aid mission to Nepal earlier this week, said a second consignment of food would be on its way as soon as possible.

Earlier this month, Bahrain sent 30 tonnes of aid to assist relief efforts in Nepal and the second consignment is due to be delivered by ship via India.

So far, the RCO has collected nearly BD10,000 ($26,344) in cash donations including from the Bahrain Soni Community, which presented a BD2,108 cheque to Dr Al Sayed.

The Rotary Club of Adliya yesterday said it was supporting RCO work in Nepal and urged members to purchase at least one tent at a cost of BD50 each to provide shelter to displaced families.

Individuals and corporations can also donate to the official Bahrain fund, named the RCO Bahrain-Nepal Support Committee at the State Bank of India (account number BH10SBIN02701587120001) and the BBK (account number 100000358458).

Meanwhile, a Marine Corps helicopter involved in disaster relief efforts was declared missing yesterday while working in the vicinity of Charikot village, a spokesman for US Pacific Command said.

Army Major David Eastburn, said US military personnel were responding to the disappearance of the UH-1 Huey helicopter and the incident was under investigation.

Six US Marines and two Nepalese soldiers were reportedly aboard the helicopter. - TradeArabia News Service