Kathmandu, April 26 (IANS) The toll in the massive earthquake that devastated Nepal rose to over 2,400 on Sunday, the government said.
Nepal’s ministry of home affairs said at least 2,430 people were dead, while 5,936 were injured, according to reports received till 8.30 p.m. on Sunday.
A total of 11 districts were affected of which the worst-affected were Kathmandu, Sindhupalchowk, Lalitpur, Gorkha and Bhaktapur. The death toll in the three Kathmandu Valley districts — Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur — was 1,152 and 1,278 elsewhere.
The government said search and rescue operations were continuing and the toll may rise further.
Meanwhile, 22 bodies have been recovered from the Everest base camp after avalanches hit the slopes of the world’s highest peak, the tourism ministry said on Sunday.
The bodies have been brought back to Kathmandu. Similar avalanches in Everest had killed 13 people in April 2014.
At least 217 tourists have been reported missing, the ministry said.
As many as 32 people were rescued from the base camp and airlifted to Kathmandu, while 29 were admitted to a hospital in Lukla.
After repeated aftershocks and another earthquake on Sunday, the Tribhuvan International Airport in the Nepal capital was closed to avert any crisis but was later re-opened in the afternoon, airport officials said. It was again closed briefly in the evening but operations resumed after a short while.
Hundreds of passengers, including Indians, were stranded at the airport.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Bamdev Gautam has urged airport officials to keep open the immigration office at Tribhuvan round-the-clock to assist the passengers.