Nepal earthquake: fears grow over fate of thousands near epicentre

Relief workers try to find out what has happened to 10,000 or more people in remote area of Gorkha district near border with Tibet

Villagers plead for food after an aid helicopter landed at the remote mountain village of Gumda, Gorkha district, Nepal. Photograph: Wally Santana/AP

Jason Burke in Gorkha-Wednesday 29 April 2015

Officials and relief workers in Nepal are desperately seeking information on aabout 10,000 people living in the northernmost areas of Gorkha district, where the epicentre of Saturday’s earthquake was located.

Nothing is known of the condition of villagers in these remote and mountainous areas near the frontier with Tibet, but up to 90% of buildings in nearby areas a similar distance from the epicentre have been destroyed or rendered uninhabitable.

Nepal Earthquake Fears Grow Over Fate of Thousands Near Epicentre by Thavam Ratna