Elite Gurkhas from Nepal deployed to secure Trump-Kim summit

June 12, 2018

SINGAPORE (AP) — To protect one of the highest-profile diplomatic events so far this century, Singapore has enlisted the help of its fearsome Nepalese fighters whose large curved knives, according to custom, must "taste blood" whenever they're drawn.

Wearing brown berets and equipped with body armor and assault rifles, the elite Gurkha police officers are a conspicuous part of the enveloping security force Singapore has deployed for Tuesday's summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

The meeting, which could prove to be a crucial moment in the global diplomatic push to resolve the nuclear standoff with Pyongyang, has sent the highly manicured city-state into security overdrive. Trump and Kim have brought their own personal security personnel and heavily armored limousines; Kim's bodyguards have been seen running in formation alongside his massive Mercedes.

Selected among young men from impoverished Nepal, Gurkhas have been part of Singapore's police force since 1949. There are reportedly about 1,800 Gurkha officers in Singapore, and they are a regular presence at high-security events. On Monday, they were seen standing guard at the heavily fortified St. Regis Singapore, where Kim arrived Sunday afternoon.

"This is a moment of pride to see the Gurkhas responsible for guarding such an important event," said Krishna Kumar Ale, who served for 37 years in the British army before retiring back home in Nepal. "It shows that we Gurkhas have reached a point where we are trusted with the security of two of the most important people in the world."

In 2015, during the Shangri-la Dialogue, a Singapore summit that includes defense ministers and top security officials from around the world, a Gurkha officer shot and killed a driver after his car breached a series of roadblocks outside the summit's venue. The incident turned out to be drug-related, not an attack.

When asked about the scale of security operations for the summit, Singapore's Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam said Sunday that more than 5,000 police had been deployed. The Gurkha Contingent is a special police unit inside the force.

"I think the fact that it had to be put together in two weeks ... added tremendously to the pressure and logistics, the demands. But I think the officers have worked around the clock, we are quietly confident that they have put in place the preparations," he said.

Singapore is not new to hosting high-profile events, including International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group meetings, and Association of Southeast Asian Nations summits in 2007 and 2018. Gurkhas, whose name derives from the Nepalese hill town of Gorkha, have been deployed in major conflicts and wars since becoming part of the British army in the 19th century. More than 200,000 Gurkhas fought in the two world wars, where they won admiration for their combat skills and bravery, living up to their traditional motto "It's better to die than to be a coward." Gurkhas also fought in the Falklands conflict, the Gulf War, Bosnia, Kosovo and Afghanistan.

The British experienced Gurkhas' fierceness firsthand after suffering heavy losses during their invasion of Nepal. A peace deal signed by the British East India Company in 1815 allowed Britain to recruit troops from Nepal.

After Indian independence in 1947, Britain, Nepal and India reached an agreement to transfer four Gurkha regiments to the Indian army. Former British colonies Singapore and Malaysia have also employed Gurkhas for their police and army, respectively.

In Nepal, getting picked to serve as Gurkha soldiers and officers overseas is seen as a ticket out of poverty. According to Nepal's Gurkha Army Ex-Servicemen Organization, over 10,000 applicants try out every year for about 260 places in the British army's Gurkha units. Many train for months for the selection process, which includes a grueling "doko" race, which involves carrying 25 kilograms (55 pounds) of sand while running a steep 4.2-kilometer (2.6-mile) uphill course.

Along with their modern weapons, Gurkhas still carry the traditional "kukri," a long curved knife which tradition says must "ragat khaikana" — taste blood — once it is drawn. "That is no longer the current practice ... mostly," said the Gurkhas Australia website.

Kim reported from Seoul, South Korea. AP writer Binaj Gurubacharya in Kathmandu, Nepal, contributed to this report.

Nepalese vote in 1st provincial polls amid democracy hopes

November 26, 2017

CHAUTARA, Nepal (AP) — Nepalese in mountain villages and foothill towns voted Sunday in the Himalayan nation's first provincial polls that promise to bring government closer to rural and remote areas.

Some 3.2 million voters were choosing lawmakers in seven newly-formed federal states as well as the national assembly and turnout is expected to be high. The lawmakers who are elected on Sunday and Dec. 7 in the remaining part of the country will be able to name their states, draft provincial laws and choose local leaders.

"The central government is finally moving to our region. We will be closer to the government now with the state assemblies," said schoolteacher Swasthani Thapa, who was among the voters lining outside the polling station at Chautara, 80 kilometers (50 miles) east of Kathmandu, even before it opened at 7 a.m.

Chautara was one of the areas hardest hit by the 2015 earthquake. People in the mountain regions complained they did not get enough help from the central government because their voices were not heard. Two years later, destroyed and damaged houses are still scattered around Chautara and surrounding areas.

"This is a historic day for us. The setting up of states will give final shape to the democracy process, which should finally bring stability and development for our country," said businessman Surya Lal Shrestha.

Nepal's slow path to democracy began in 2006, when protesters forced the king to give up his rule. Two years later, Nepal officially abolished the centuries-old monarchy and decided that a federal system would best deliver services to all corners of the nation, which remains one of the poorest in the world.

But bickering among political parties delayed until 2015 the implementation of the new constitution, which declared Nepal a republic. Security has been stepped with thousands of police and army soldiers deployed for the elections. According to the Home Ministry, more than 400 people were detained in days leading up to the vote.

Soon after the constitution was implemented in 2015, protests by ethnic groups in southern Nepal turned violent and left some 50 people dead. The ethnic Madhesi groups protested for months saying they did not get enough territory in the province assigned to them. They said they deserved more land because they represented a bigger population. Their protest blocked the border with India for months, cutting off fuel and other supplies in Nepal.

Nepalese get 1st chance in 20 years to vote for local bodies

May 12, 2017

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Much has changed since Nepal last held local elections 20 years ago — the Himalayan country's 240-year monarchy was abolished, federal democracy was introduced and political wrangling took center stage. Earthquakes ravaged the country. A Maoist insurgency left thousands dead. And widespread poverty ensured daily life for many remained a struggle if not a misery.

Through it all, Nepal's 29 million citizens have had only government-appointed bureaucrats to look to for answers or help with settling local disputes. Many voters said they were excited for the chance this weekend to choose local representatives for the first time since 1997.

"We can finally get our true representatives back in our neighborhoods," said 19-year-old university student Suman Sharma of Kathmandu. "The last time these elections were held, I wasn't even born." Nepal will hold the first of two rounds of voting on Sunday — with nearly 50,000 candidates vying for 13,556 positions on village and city councils covering nearly half the country.

For weeks, campaign posters have lined village roads. Political party flags flapped in the mountain breeze. And more than 40,000 police officers were fanning out to polling stations to keep the peace.

Candidates were going door to door to greet villagers with promises of building roads and schools, improving water sanitation facilities, providing electricity or even metro systems. "This election is very important because these local bodies bring the government to people's front yard," said Surya Prasad Sharma, spokesman for the Election Commission.

More importantly, analysts said the local balloting offered a signal that Nepal's fractious democracy may be stabilizing. Two years ago, lawmakers passed a new constitution to replace the old system of monarchy, and to lay out the rules for provincial and parliamentary polls. The constitution was considered a major victory, following eight years of political bickering over its terms. But not everyone was happy, and its passage sparked months of protests by ethnic groups in the south that felt shortchanged by how the document divided the country's districts.

"A lot of issues like the ethnic troubles could have been avoided if there had been continued representation in the local level," said political analyst Dhruba Hari Adhikary. Janak Joshi, who works as a clerk in a government land registry office, agreed the lack of representative government at the local level had hurt society overall.

"For the past 20 years, government-appointed officials have been functioning in these positions. They didn't represent the people or care about what was wrong or needed in city or neighborhood," Joshi said. "Now we will finally get people who would at least listen and work for us."

Many voters said they were eager for help in pressing the government to reconstruct hundreds of thousands of homes toppled in a devastating earthquake in 2015. So far, less than 4 percent have been rebuilt.

Others hoped local representatives would prioritize the need for justice following a decadelong Maoist insurgency that ended in 2006, leaving 17,000 dead. The government has yet to address more than 58,000 complaints of murder, abuse and or other human rights violations. Nor has it been able to reveal what happened to some 1,500 who disappeared during the fighting.

Some voters wondered if newly elected representatives could help revive local economies, sorely needed with some 25 percent of the population living in poverty. And some saw a chance to advance progressive policies for improving education or rights and opportunities for women.

In the Tokha suburb of Kathmandu, Nepali Congress party candidate Rajani Thapa led hundreds of flag-waving supporters this week on a campaign march while promising to fight for women's empowerment and better days ahead.

"Many people still think women cannot do well in an elected office like men, but I want to prove that women can do the work much better," she told The Associated Press on Wednesday. Nearby, in the capital, 21-year-old student Ranju Darshana was urging voters to pick him for city mayor.

"I am here with courage, I am here with determination," Darshana said, dismissing criticism that she's too young or inexperienced. Little trouble was expected at Sunday's polls, though one small Maoist party has called a general strike, saying the country needs more political reform before it can be ready for such polls.

The second round of voting, scheduled for June 14, could see protests among ethnic groups unhappy with district boundaries in southern areas of the country, election officials said.

Nepal's top judge suspended after impeachment motion filed

May 01, 2017

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Nepal's first female Supreme Court chief justice was suspended after an impeachment motion was filed in Parliament accusing her of bias and interfering with executive powers. Sushila Karki, who held one of the highest positions ever held by a woman in Nepal, was suspended automatically after the motion signed by nearly half the members in Parliament was registered, Supreme Court spokesman Mahendra Nath Upadhaya said Monday.

Deputy Prime Minister Bimalendra Nidhi resigned in protest of the impeachment motion, an absence likely to cause problems because crucial municipal and district elections are planned in two weeks. Nidhi was also the home minister tasked with arranging security for the polls.

Nidhi handed in his resignation because he disagrees with the motion filed against the chief justice that would bring further distance between the legislature and judiciary, his press adviser Ramjee Dahal said.

There was no discussion on the issue within the party, Dahal said. Nidhi is from the Nepali Congress party, one of the two ruling parties whose members signed the motion. Karki was accused of interfering with executive powers and issuing biased decisions. The motion cited the court's order overturning the government's appointment of the police chief.

The motion, filed late Sunday, would have to first be debated in Parliament and then would require two-thirds of votes in the 601-seat Parliament for it to be approved. Karki was known for zero tolerance against corruption. She was appointed chief justice in April 2016 and was due to retire next month.

Nepal marks anniversary of quake that killed nearly 9,000

April 24, 2016

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — People gathered Sunday at the remains of a historic tower in Nepal's capital that collapsed in a devastating earthquake a year ago, as Nepalese held memorial services to mark the anniversary of a disaster that killed nearly 9,000 people and left millions homeless.

Minor protests were also held, with demonstrators angry at the slow rate of reconstruction in the wake of the magnitude-7.8 quake that ravaged vast areas of Nepal. Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli laid a wreath at the ruins of the Dharahara tower in the heart of Kathmandu. The iconic structure collapsed in the quake, killing 132 people. In all, 8,856 people died in the April 25, 2015, disaster.

Participating in the memorial ceremonies were people who lost loved ones in the quake, and others who simply came to pray for those killed. "I lost a friend who was working at the top of the tower on that day. I hope he and others are in a good place," said Ram Shrestha, pointing at the remains of the Dharahara tower. He said that he had just stepped out a few minutes before the earthquake struck to go shopping.

Madhav Newpane, who runs a shop near the tower, witnessed its collapse. He returned on Sunday with a bouquet of flowers and candles. "There were many people killed here on that day. I will never be able to forget that day," Newpane said.

About 100 protesters scuffled with riot police outside the prime minister's office demonstrating against the slow reconstruction of the homes. More than 600,000 homes were destroyed and around 185,000 damaged in the quake.

"Government, where is reconstruction. Open the gates of the government," the protesters chanted as they tried to force their way through a police barricade. According to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, an estimated 4 million people are still living in sub-standard temporary shelters in conditions that pose a threat to their health and well-being. Only 661 families have received the first installment of a 200,000-rupee ($1,868) government grant, getting 50,000 rupees ($467) so far.

Nepal has made almost no progress in rebuilding from the quake despite foreign donors pledging more than $4 billion in aid during a donor's conference last year. The government, in disarray for nearly a decade, has not regrouped enough to be a strong force for reconstruction.

Out of the $4.1 billion pledged, Nepal has so far received just $1.28 billion. The delay in getting the money has been blamed on the government taking months to set up the National Reconstruction Authority, which was done only in December.

Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel said the delay was because it was necessary to conduct a detailed survey of the damaged houses before reconstruction could begin. "Nepal had signed a written commitment in black and white that there would not be any reconstruction without the detailed beneficiary survey during the donor's meeting," Paudel said Friday. "But until the detailed beneficiary survey was completed, there was no way we could go ahead with the actual reconstruction."

Now that the work is completed in 11 of the 14 districts affected by the earthquake, work will proceed at full speed, Paudel said.

Trafficked Nepali, Bangladeshi women trapped in Syria

Murali Bhanjyang, Nepal (AFP)
March 13, 2016

Nepali villager Sunita Magar thought she was heading to a safe factory job in Kuwait, but only when she landed in Damascus did she realize "something had gone very wrong".

Frequently beaten with a baton and given only one meal a day, Magar says she spent 13 months working as a maid for a Syrian household and pleading to be allowed to go home.

"I was just in shock, I couldn't stop crying," the single mother-of-two told AFP.

Magar is among scores of poor Nepali and Bangladeshi women who traveled to the Middle East on the promise of a good job, only to be trafficked into Syria, wracked by five years of civil war.

Nepal's top diplomat in the region said nationals from the Philippines, Indonesia and other countries, which, like Nepal and Bangladesh, have large migrant labor populations, stopped working in Syria because of the dangers involved.

"Since then traffickers have been targeting Nepalis," said Kaushal Kishor Ray, head of Nepal's diplomatic mission based in Cairo.

"The numbers have gone up hugely in recent years, we estimate there must be around 500 Nepali women in Syria," Ray told AFP.

In nearby Bangladesh, Shahinoor Begum lies in a Dhaka hospital bed recovering from her seven-month ordeal after being trafficked into Syria as a sex slave.

"I was sold to a Syrian man who tortured and raped me every day, sometimes along with his friends," Begum, also a single mother-of-two, said.

"I begged for mercy, but they didn't have any. Instead they used to beat me so badly that I broke my arms," she told AFP.

Accompanied by labor agents, the 28-year-old and several other women left Bangladesh on the promise of working as maids in Jordan.

But they too were taken to Syria, where fighting between the regime and rebel forces has left more than 260,000 dead and displaced more than half the population.

Begum eventually developed kidney disease, prompting traffickers to contact her ageing mother to demand money for her safe return home.

Lieutenant Colonel Golam Sarwar said his team from Bangladesh's elite Rapid Action Battalion are investigating her case and two others -- although families of 43 other women have lodged similar complaints.

"Bangladesh is apparently a soft target for the traffickers," Sarwar told AFP.

- 'Always afraid' -

Criminal networks target nationals from Nepal and Bangladesh in part because their governments have little diplomatic influence in the region and no embassy in Syria.

A Nepal government ban on migrant workers travelling to Syria has failed to stop the traffickers, an International Labor Organization (ILO) official said.

"Nepal's government thinks a ban is the easiest solution, it basically allows them to wipe their hands of the issue," said Bharati Pokharel, ILO national project coordinator in Kathmandu.

"India has much more diplomatic clout than Nepal or Bangladesh and traffickers are aware of this. They know Nepal is weak and that they will face no legal action for their activities," Pokharel told AFP.

Illiterate, trusting and desperate to dig herself out of poverty, Magar didn't hesitate when a labor broker approached her with a promise of a well-paid job in Kuwait. The 23-year-old says she didn't realize she had been duped until the plane landed in Damascus.

"I was always exhausted, always hungry, always afraid," Magar said of working 20 hours a day for no pay and sleeping on her employer's penthouse balcony.

At night, she listened to Nepali songs to try to drown out occasional sounds of gunfire and bombs and chase away thoughts of suicide.

- Corrupt officials -

When a massive earthquake hit Nepal last April, Magar stepped up pleas to her employers, who had confiscated her passport, to return home.

They contacted the broker who then demanded payment from Magar's family to ensure her release. Her mother then highlighted the case to local newspapers, kicking off a social media campaign. Expat Nepalis as far afield as Finland and Hong Kong raised $3,800 to pay off her employers.

Magar, who finally arrived in Kathmandu in August, counts herself among the lucky few to have escaped.

Rohit Kumar Neupane's aunt was trafficked to Damascus last spring. She alerted her family via Facebook a few months later, prompting Neupane to repeatedly seek help from government officials without success.

A foreign ministry official said Neupane's request had been forwarded to its overworked embassy in Cairo, which covers nine countries including Syria.

"Frankly, we are not in a position to manage these cases from Cairo...what we need is precautionary action to prevent them from coming to Syria in the first place," said diplomat Ray.

But an apparent nexus between local labor brokers involved in trafficking and corrupt Nepali officials means they operate freely, according to experts.

"Even in the rare instance that a case is filed, it will just drag on with no possibility of resolution or a guilty verdict," said Krishna Gurung, project coordinator at Kathmandu's Pourakhi emergency shelter house for female migrant workers.

In her village of Murali Bhanjyang in central Nepal, Magar has little hope of seeing the traffickers brought to justice.

"I still have nightmares about that time...I start crying in my sleep," she said.

"Sometimes it feels like none of this is real, like I am back on that balcony in Syria, dreaming of Nepal."

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Trafficked_Nepali_Bangladeshi_women_trapped_in_Syria_999.html.

Nepal Maoists mark 20 years since start of civil war

Kathmandu (AFP)
Feb 13, 2016

Nepal's former Maoist rebels paid tribute to fallen comrades Saturday in a ceremony marking 20 years since the start of an insurgency that transformed the Himalayan nation from a Hindu monarchy to a secular republic.

On 13 February, 1996, Maoist guerrillas attacked a police post in western Nepal's Rolpa district, launching a decade-long civil war that eventually claimed some 16,000 lives and left hundreds of people missing.

Hundreds of Maoist cadres gathered at the party's office in Kathmandu, waving red flags as senior leaders placed garlands on the "martyr's pillar" -- a monument built to honour fallen and missing combatants.

The rebels laid down arms in 2006 before entering politics and eventually helping to draft the country's new national constitution.

Introduced in September, the charter established Nepal as a secular federal republic, reflecting Maoist ideology.

"The constitution is the product of our war and we... take ownership of the new constitution," Maoist chief Pushpa Kamal Dahal, better known by his nom-de-guerre Prachanda, told cheering cadres in Kathmandu.

But for many ordinary Nepalis, who voted for the party in Nepal's first constituent assembly elections held in 2008, the Maoists failed to deliver on their pledge of bringing equality and progress to the deeply feudal country.

"Many people lost their lives, many went missing or became disabled so things would change in this country," Rina Tamang, a shopkeeper in Kathmandu, told AFP.

"Now we have a new constitution but we are still waiting for the change the Maoists promised us. Personally, I have no hope left anymore," the 39-year-old said.

After sweeping to victory in the 2008 polls, the former rebels soon came under fire for abandoning revolutionary ideals and developing a taste for luxury.

They alienated their voter base and crashed out in Nepal's second constituent assembly elections in 2013, finishing in third place.

"A few leaders compromised on their promises, a few betrayed the revolution for lucrative positions in government... all this needs to be rectified to bring real change," said former guerrilla, Laxmi Prasad Chaulagain.

The constitution, the first drawn up by elected representatives, was meant to bolster Nepal's transformation into a peaceful democratic republic after decades of political instability.

But it has instead sparked violence, with more than 50 people killed in clashes between police and demonstrators from Nepal's Madhesi ethnic minority, who say it leaves them politically marginalized.

Ongoing discussions between the government and protesting parties have failed to yield an agreement.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Nepal_Maoists_mark_20_years_since_start_of_civil_war_999.html.

With lives at risk, Nepal struggles to escape dysfunction

December 05, 2015

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Shiva Parwar has been camping on the pavement for five days, waiting in line for cooking gas. There are 521 gas cylinders ahead of his, and not even the dealer knows when more fuel will arrive, thanks to a two-month-long border blockade that shows no sign of ending.

"I sent my wife and child back to our village home because we don't have the gas to cook," said Parwar, whose roadside candy stall is shuttered while he waits. "I have been eating in restaurants with borrowed money but that too has run out. I have no option but to wait in line."

An ethnic group's blockade of a key border point with India is leaving Nepal with only about 15 percent of its normal supply of gasoline, diesel and cooking fuel, and creating shortages of other goods including food and medicine.

The group's dispute with the government is part of the political dysfunction that has held back development and even prevented the adoption of a constitution for nearly a decade. Now it is threatening lives as hundreds of thousands of people, many of them displaced by Nepal's devastating spring earthquakes, face the winter without fuel, secure housing and many essential goods.

"We are all suffering. Prices of food have gone up and there is shortage of many things here," Parwar said in Kathmandu, the capital. "It is the common people who are suffering. The rich and the leaders are getting the fuel and gas and living comfortably."

A look at Nepal's crisis through the eyes of those close to the dispute, and others who are struggling with its consequences:

THE MADHESIS' COMPLAINT

Members of the Madhesi ethnic group in south and southeast Nepal are blockading the border to protest Nepal's new constitution, which was adopted in September after years of infighting. The group wants a larger Madhesi province and more seats in Parliament than they have been given.

Madhesi protesters have clashed with police, attacked public vehicles and shut down highways. At least 50 protesters, police and bystanders have died in the violence.

Upendra Yadav, a leading Madhesi protest leader, blames the government for ignoring their demands and using excessive force to crush peaceful demonstrations.

"Just last week the government sent their goons to disrupt our mass gathering, burning down the stage and chasing our supporters," Yadav said.

The Madhesis have held talks with government negotiators at least nine times but have not reached any agreement.

"We are very clear with our demands," Yadav said, accusing the government of failing to present a clear agenda.

THE GOVERNMENT'S RESPONSE

The coalition government led by Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli took office after the protests began with promises it would resolve the conflict, but two months later, a solution is nowhere in sight.

The government has said it's ready to make changes to the constitution but has said little about protesters' demands for a bigger province. The Himalayan country has more than 100 ethnic groups, and while the Madhesi are among the largest, making up about a fifth of Nepal's 30 million people, there are fears that a deal to end the blockade could set off protests elsewhere.

"We fear that giving more land to the Madhesi province and making changes to the state boundaries could trigger new conflicts in the country," said Pradip Gyawali, secretary of the ruling Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist Leninist). Gyawali said any such changes would require detailed research and agreement among the main political parties.

A TENT FOR WINTER

Sundari Lama was forced to live in a tent this spring after her house was destroyed in the April earthquake that killed nearly 9,000 people. She eventually moved into an apartment, but now she's back in the tent, this time because of the blockade.

With no gas available, she must cook with wood, but she's not allowed to burn wood in the apartment. So she's bracing for near-freezing winter temperatures in the drafty tent in the outskirts of Kathmandu with her husband and their 5-month-old daughter.

And the fuel shortage is just part of her family's hardship. Food prices are soaring: A bottle of vegetable oil has tripled in price to 300 rupees ($2.81). And work has become scarce for her husband, a day laborer.

"First we got hit by the earthquake, losing our homes and then this blockade is causing so much difficulty and pain," Lama said. "We are collecting wood from fallen houses and from wherever we can, but how long can we go on like this?"

OPPOSITION'S VIEW

Nepali Congress, the main opposition and largest party, says it is trying to mediate a solution between the government and the protesters. It blames government apathy for the lack of progress, though it shares the government's concern that overly generous concessions to the Madhesis could drive other ethnic groups to protest.

"The government is not clear on what they are doing to deal with the situation. They have no idea or any plan and come to talks unprepared," said Ram Hari Khatiwada, a Nepali Congress lawmaker. "But if a solution is not found soon this situation could escalate."

Nepali Congress and Oli's ruling party are traditional rivals, and Khatiwada acknowledged that their rivalry "is one of the reasons for the obstacles in the talks with the Madhesi." He said it's time for that to end.

"The prime minister needs to act as leader of a nation and not chief of a party," he said.

ONE DAY WITH GAS, SIX WITHOUT

Since most of Nepal's imported goods flow through India, many businesses are being squeezed by the blockade. They are having a tough time paying rent, utility bills and employee salaries.

Madan Gautam has been able to open his Chakupat Fuel Center in Kathmandu only about once a week, and he's not sure how long he can survive. He gets fuel only from the state-owned Nepal Oil Corp., which distributes its limited supplies to stations on a rotating basis.

"I get about 4,000 liters (1,060 gallons) of fuel one day a week to distribute, but there are hundreds of vehicles lined up outside the pump every day," Gautam said. "I work one day a week and have nothing to do the next six days. ... At this rate we will all go out of business."

A SMOKY DUMPLING SHOP

Most people in Nepal blame politicians for their country's troubles. After the end of an authoritarian monarchy and a bloody communist insurgency nearly a decade ago, a new constitution was supposed to bring positive changes in the new republic. The years since, however, have seen a host of political squabbles and seven different governments.

"Our leaders have failed us again and again. They have done nothing more than work either for themselves, their close supporters and or their own parties. They have done little for the country and the people," said K.C. Raja, who serves buffalo dumplings and noodles at his Top Ten Momo Restaurant near the Boudhanath stupa in Kathmandu. He too lacks cooking gas and must cook by burning wood, which fills his small shop with smoke and has already blackened the walls.

"These leaders don't have to wait in line to fill their fuel tanks," Raja said, "or worry about how to cook dinner without gas."

Thousands of Nepalese pray for earthquake victims

May 07, 2015

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Thousands of people dressed in white offered prayers, flowers and lit incense at home and in temples Thursday as part of a Hindu ritual marking the end of a 13-day mourning period for those killed in the massive earthquake.

Families and friends also published condolence messages with photographs of victims in local newspapers. The mourners assembled amid the piles of stones, mud, bricks and wooden beams that once formed centuries-old temples, palaces and structures toppled in the April 25 quake, which killed more than 7,750 people. The main ceremony was held in the ruins of Kastamandap, a temple after which the capital, Kathmandu, was named.

"There are so many people and so many buildings we have all lost in the earthquake. I am here to show my support for these families and to say that we are all here for you," said Alok Shrestha, a banker dressed in white t-shirt and holding a bouquet of marigold.

During the customary 13-day mourning period, close family members stay at home, do not touch outsiders and refrain from eating salt. No entertainment is allowed. Nearly 500 people gathered at Kathmandu's historic center, Basantapur Durbar Square, whose temples were reduced to rubble, to offer prayers.

Bhimsen Das Shrestha, a lawmaker representing Kathmandu, said the government should enforce new rules to make buildings earthquake-resistant. "When we rebuild the structures in Kathmandu, we need to consider new technologies in earthquake-prone areas," he said.

Meanwhile, Nepal Rastra Bank, the central bank, announced that people whose houses were damaged could get loans at only 2 percent interest rate. The average commercial loan rate is about 10 percent. Bank official Min Bahadur Shrestha told state-run Radio Nepal that people in Kathmandu could avail of up to 2.5 million rupees ($25,000) and those outside the capital of 1.5 million rupees ($15,000) in loans.

More than a thousand engineers were checking damaged houses in the capital and advising people about whether they are safe. About 13,000 families have requested inspections of their homes since the magnitude-7.8 earthquake, Nepal Engineers Association General Secretary Kishore Kumar Jha said.

About 40 percent of the damaged houses inspected so far were considered safe, he said. It is still unclear how many houses were damaged in the capital and how many are repairable. Some modern buildings — including upscale hotels and expensive homes — appear to have escaped largely unscathed. But poorer neighborhoods suffered widespread damage.

Much of Kathmandu's Old City, home to many of the precious UNESCO World Heritage sites, was destroyed. Many villages outside the capital also were completely flattened. As aftershocks continue to shake the capital, many people still are afraid to return to their homes.

Police say about one-third of Kathmandu's population of 700,000 had left the city since the earthquake. Many others have moved in with relatives, while some are staying in tents in open areas.

Nepali police dig bodies from village and trekking route

May 05, 2015

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Rescuers were digging Tuesday through thousands of tons of earth from a quake-triggered mudslide in Nepal that wiped out an entire village along a popular Himalayan trekking route and killed at least 60 people.

Nine of the victims recovered in the Langtang Valley since the April 25 earthquake and mudslide were foreign trekkers, said Gautam Rimal, the top government official in the Rasuwa district. Villagers say as many as 200 people could have been killed.

The valley and its little village of Langtang are about 60 kilometers (35 miles) north of Nepal's capital, Kathmandu. It was a popular stop for trekkers because of its scenic views of the Himalayas. "The entire village was wiped out by the mudslide. There were some 60 houses there, but they were all buried under rubble. It will be impossible to recover all the bodies," Rimal said.

The village is now about a two-day hike from the nearest town because the landslide has blocked area roads. While helicopters allow easy access, they remain in short supply because of aid missions across the quake-affected parts of Nepal.

The still-rising death toll from the quake, Nepal's worst in more than 80 years, has reached more than 7,500. In Kathmandu, authorities say up to one-third of the city's residents have left since the quake. In the first days, bus stations were jammed with people fearing aftershocks or trying to get home to relatives in devastated villages.

Authorities do not know how many of those people have returned to the capital, but on Tuesday there were still people waiting for buses to leave. "I stayed back here to help out my neighbors and clean up the neighborhood," said Surya Singh, who was at a large bus station. But now he wants to see the damage in his home village — though with many roads still blocked by landslides he was unsure if he could get all the way by bus.

Kathmandu police say nearly 900,000 people have left in the past 10 days. The population of Kathmandu valley — including the city of Kathmandu and smaller towns of Lalitpur and Bhaktapur — is 2.5 million people.

Life has been slowly returning to normal in Kathmandu. Schools are to remain closed until May 14 but some markets are open and trucks have been bringing in fresh food and vegetables every day.

An elderly Nepali villager, and memories of the 1934 quake

May 03, 2015

POKHARIDANDA, Nepal (AP) — He was 9 years old when he felt the earth tremble for the first time. He'd been out in a field, grazing his goats on wild grass below Nepal's snow-covered peaks.

"The earth started shaking," said Fattha Bahadur Rana, who at 90 years old is now the oldest man in this demolished farming village not far from the epicenter of the deadly April 25 earthquake. "I was a kid, I was scared. I saw everyone screaming, and I heard a loud roar." He lisps a little, because he has just two teeth left. "I thought that a plane had crashed from the sky," he said.

It was 1934. Hitler was on the rise in Europe, America was engulfed in its Great Depression, and Nepal was a sleepy, feudal Himalayan kingdom at the northern fringes of the British Empire. Rana had become the man of his house a year earlier, after his father died in Kathmandu, the capital. He never learned the cause. He only knew it was up to him to help his mother and little brother on the farm.

The 1934 quake had a magnitude of 8.0. The epicenter was more than 200 kilometers (120 miles) away, near the Nepal-India border, and in Pokharidanda it did little more than frighten the villagers. In those days, news traveled slowly, but eventually they learned what had happened. More than 10,000 people had died and entire towns and cities had been smashed to the ground.

"Kathmandu was demolished," said Rana. "The king and queen, they were crying." This time, he was not so remote. The epicenter of the recent quake was perhaps a couple of dozen kilometers (miles) away.

But having experienced it once, he knew what the tremors could do. He threw aside the book he'd been reading and scrambled away from the stone house he had built with bare hands, seconds before it came crashing down.

"I thought it was the end of the world. I thought I would die," Rana said. "But now how will I live? I've lost everything." All 30 of Pokharidanda's homes are demolished. Miraculously, all its residents survived the quake.

Few Nepalese remember the 1934 quake. To have lived so long in Nepal is a feat in itself. Life expectancy today is just under 68 in the mountainous nation, and was maybe half that in 1925, when Rana was born.

His life has been otherwise typical for Nepalese villagers. At 16, he married, and soon after joined the army. He had four children and after his wife died he married again at age 32. More children were born, and then grandchildren and great-grandchildren. The village grew.

Now, he and his 82-year-old wife life on handouts and sleep in a flimsy shelter villagers made from corrugated tin set beneath the tumbling boughs of a fiery pink bougainvillea. Pigeons flutter on the makeshift roof overhead. Baby goats forage in the shambles that was once his home.

The Nepalese army came and managed to pull a single box from the wreckage, containing a pensioner ID card that gets him the equivalent of about $5 a month. Everything else — the documents he'd collected over a lifetime, his clothing, his mother's jewelry, and more — has been lost.

"I don't know what will happen next," he said, cupping a cigarette to his lips and gently pulling in. "But this is where I am now. I have to live somewhere until I die."

Nepal shuts airport to big jets; more bodies found

May 03, 2015

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Runway damage forced Nepalese authorities to close the main airport Sunday to large aircraft delivering aid to millions of people following the massive earthquake, but U.N. officials said the overall logistics situation was improving.

The death toll climbed to 7,057, including six foreigners and 45 Nepalese found over the weekend on a popular trekking route, said government administrator Gautam Rimal. The victims included a French national, an Indian, four other foreigners and Nepalese guides, hotel owners, workers and porters.

The main runway was temporarily closed to big planes because of damage. It was built to handle only medium-size jetliners, but not the large military and cargo planes that have been flying aid supplies, food, medicines, and rescue and humanitarian workers, said Birendra Shrestha, the manager of Tribhuwan International Airport, located on the outskirts of Kathmandu.

There have been reports of cracks on the runway and other problems at the only airport capable of handling jetliners. Despite the setback, the U.N. coordinator for Nepal, Jamie McGoldrick, said the bottlenecks in aid delivery were slowly disappearing.

"I think the problem is there, but it's actually diminishing," he said, adding the Nepalese government eased customs and other bureaucratic hurdles on humanitarian aid following complaints from the U.N.

"The government has taken note of some of the concerns that we've expressed to them and they've addressed those both at customs and the actual handling," he said. Airport congestion was only the latest complication in global efforts to aid people in the wake of the April 25 quake, the impoverished country's biggest and most destructive in eight decades.

People in Nepal — both in remote villages and the capital, Kathmandu — have complained about not seeing any rescue workers or international aid and about a lack of temporary shelters, with many sleeping out in the open because of fears of aftershocks bringing down their damaged homes.

U.N. humanitarian officials said that they were increasingly worried about the spread of disease. They said more helicopters were needed to reach isolated mountain villages that were hard to access even before the quake.

The true extent of the damage from the earthquake is still unknown as reports keep filtering in from remote areas, some of which remain entirely cut off. The U.N. says the quake affected 8.1 million people — more than a quarter of Nepal's 28 million people.

The government said Sunday that the quake had killed 7,057 people. Laxi Dhakal, a Home Ministry official, said hopes of finding survivors had faded dramatically. "Unless they were caught in an air pocket, there is not much possibility," he said.

Among the latest fatalities to be counted were the 51 people, including six foreigners, whose remains were found in the Langtang Valley in Rasuwa district, nearly 60 kilometers (35 miles) north of Kathmandu.

The area, with a dozen inns near the trekking trail, was buried by a landslide after the earthquake. Nepal has been shaken by more than 70 aftershocks following the quake, and its people remain on edge. One brief aftershock Saturday afternoon shook the only paved road in the village of Pauwathok. Residents screamed and began to run, then stopped when the tremor eased.

The small village is located in the district of Sindupalchok, where more deaths have been recorded than anywhere else in Nepal — 2,560, compared to 1,622 in Kathmandu. The U.N. says up to 90 percent of the houses in Sindupalchok have been destroyed.

Aid still scarce in Nepal's remote villages as anger grows

May 02, 2015

MAJUWA, Nepal (AP) — With help still not reaching some isolated villages a week after Nepal's devastating earthquake, a top international aid official said Saturday that more helicopters were needed to get assistance to the farthest reaches of this Himalayan nation.

Many mountain roads, often treacherous at the best of times, remain blocked by landslides, making it extremely difficult for supply trucks to get to the higher Himalayan foothills. "We definitely need more helicopters," Ertharin Cousin, executive director of the U.N.'s World Food Program, told The Associated Press in the village of Majuwa, in the quake-devastated Gorkha district. Aid agencies have been using Majuwa as a staging area to get supplies deeper into mountainous areas. "Even seven days in this is still very much considered the early days, because there are people we still haven't reached. So we need helicopters to reach them."

"This is one of the poorest places on Earth. If the global community walks away, the people of this country will not receive the assistance that is required for them to rebuild their lives," she said.

Cousin said shelter was a more urgent priority at this point than food. More than 130,000 houses were destroyed in the quake, according to the U.N. humanitarian office. Near the epicenter, north of Kathmandu, whole villages were in ruins, and residents were in desperate need of temporary shelters against the rain and cold.

The magnitude-7.8 earthquake killed more than 6,600 people, with the death toll continuing to rise as reports filter in from isolated areas. The U.N. has estimated the quake affected 8.1 million people — more than a fourth of Nepal's population of 27.8 million.

Other teams conducting search and rescue operations also said their work was hampered by a lack of helicopters. David O'Neill of United Kingdom Fire and Rescue said a team from his group drove and then walked for several hours to reach remote villages that had reported 80 percent fatalities.

Most of the residents of Golche and Pangtang villages died in a major aftershock a day after the quake, O'Neill said in Chautara, a village in Sindhupalchok district. He said the team had hoped to reach the areas by helicopter from Chautara, but none were available to charter and they could not get on choppers flown by Nepal's army, so they were returning to Kathmandu.

Nepal's government renewed its appeal to international donors to send tents, tarpaulins and basic food supplies, saying some of the items being sent are of little use. It also asked donors to send money if they cannot send things that are immediately necessary.

"We have received things like tuna fish and mayonnaise. What good are those things for us? We need grains, salt and sugar," Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat told reporters Friday. Three senior officials were sent to remote villages after criticism that authorities had not reached some of the areas a full week since the earthquake.

"Our target now is for our officers to reach each of the villages that have been affected by the earthquake," Chief Secretary Lilamani Poudyal said. There was enough food and grain, but the immediate need for tents and shelter remained, he said.

Information Minister Minendra Rijal said Nepal would need 400,000 tents and so far has been able to provide only 29,000 to those in need. Life has been slowly returning to normal in Kathmandu, but to the east, angry villagers in parts of the Sindhupalchok district said Saturday they were still waiting for aid to reach them.

In the village of Pauwathok, three trucks apparently carrying aid supplies roared by without stopping. "What about us?" screamed villagers, as the trucks sped on. Of the 85 homes in Pauwathok, all but a handful were destroyed.

"Nobody has come here to help us. No government, no police, no aid," Badri Giri, 71. Anger and frustration at the slow pace of aid delivery have been growing among residents of remote Himalayan villages.

In the nearby village of Jalkeni, mounds of broken wood and stone line the road, the remains of homes flattened by the quake. On top of one mound, surrounded by a pile of dusty rocks, a broken TV, shredded clothes and bags of whatever she had managed to save from the debris, Sunita Shrestha sat cradling a young girl. The mound used to be her two-story home.

"No one has come to help us yet," said Shrestha, as the sun beat down. "I don't know if they ever will."

Associated Press writer Binaj Gurubacharya in Kathmandu, Nepal, contributed to this report.

Baby born in field hospital after Nepal earthquake

May 02, 2015

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — After almost a week of heartbreaking news from earthquake-hit Nepal, there was a small but beautiful moment of joy.

A baby girl was born Friday to a young Nepalese couple in one of the field hospitals set up by foreign nations to bring emergency aid to the country. Both the mother and the baby, who hasn't been named yet, are doing well.

Lata Chand, 19, was heavily pregnant when the magnitude-7.8 earthquake struck April 25. She and her husband ran out of their house in panic. Their home was undamaged, but the hospital where she was to give birth was forced to close.

On Friday, they went instead to a field hospital set up by the Israeli military, where the baby was born. The beaming midwife, Dganit Gery, said she hoped the birth would show all Nepalese women that there is hope for the future.

Lata's husband, Hariender Chand, said they were terrified the quake would cause her to miscarry. "When the quake struck, I was thinking, 'Will we survive?' because most of the pregnant women miscarried their babies," he said. "I was scared it would happen to us. Now we're safe, it's good."

Tent cities thin out in Nepal capital but residents on edge

April 30, 2015

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Under a steady morning drizzle, hundreds of people lined up Thursday in Kathmandu hoping to board free government-provided buses to rural parts of the quake-hit country as food aid began to reach remote villages near the epicenter.

Tens of thousands of people have left the capital since Monday to check on relatives in rural areas or simply to get away from the aftershocks that have rattled the city since Saturday's magnitude-7.8 quake. The disaster killed more than 5,500 people and rendered thousands more homeless.

"I have to get home. It has already been so many days," said Shanti Kumari, with her 7-year-old daughter, who was desperate to check on relatives in her home village in eastern Nepal. "I want to get at least a night of peace."

Five days after the quake, tent cities in Kathmandu had thinned out, as overnight rainfall persuaded many people to return to their homes, even if they were damaged by the quake. The streets of the capital were slick with rain Thursday morning, the potholes were filled with water.

While residents remained on edge, life in the capital was slowly returning to the way it had been before the quake. Small snack shops were open. At a leather goods shop, a merchant brushed dust from a jacket on display. A man laid out carpets and rugs beneath an awning at a handicrafts store. Foreigners stood in line at a cellphone store.

"It's getting back to normal, but we're still feeling aftershocks. It still doesn't feel safe," said Prabhu Dutta, a 27-year-old banker from Kathmandu. He said he felt four aftershocks in the morning, including one that rattled the sliding glass doors of the bookshelf in his bedroom —"My morning wakeup notice," he said.

Dutta has been sleeping in his home, which has some cracks in the wall, for two nights, but the dozens of small aftershocks that he has felt since Saturday's huge quake make him uneasy. "I am worried about whether they will continue for a long time or whether it will calm down."

He said some people are returning to work, including at his bank, "but we can't concentrate. We roam around the office. We only have one topic of conversation: the earthquake." Many people in Kathmandu are going to the country fearing that a big aftershock is coming, he said. "They are afraid; everyone is afraid because the earthquakes haven't stopped fully."

On Wednesday, helicopters finally brought food, temporary shelter and other aid to villages northwest of Kathmandu in the mountainous Gorkha District near the epicenter. Entire clusters of homes there were reduced to piles of stone and splintered wood. Women greeted the delivery with repeated cries of "We are hungry!"

While the death toll in the village of Gumda was low — only five people were killed and 20 were injured among 1,300 residents — most had lost their homes and desperately needed temporary shelter, along with the 40-kilogram (90-pound) sacks of rice that were delivered Wednesday.

Meanwhile, at least 210 foreign trekkers and residents stranded in the Langtang area north of Kathmandu had been rescued, government administrator Gautam Rimal said. The area, which borders Tibet, is popular with tourists.

President Barack Obama called Prime Minister Sushil Koirala and discussed U.S. military and civilian efforts already underway to help Nepal, the White House said. The U.N. World Food Program warned that it will take time for food and other supplies to reach more remote communities that have been cut off by landslides.

"More helicopters, more personnel and certainly more relief supplies, including medical teams, shelter, tents, water and sanitation and food, are obviously needed," said the program's Geoff Pinnock, who was coordinating the flights.

Police said the official death toll in Nepal had reached 5,489 as of late Wednesday. That figure did not include the 19 people killed at Mount Everest — five foreign climbers and 14 Nepalese Sherpa guides — when the quake unleashed an avalanche at base camp.

Dutta, the banker, said that while many of Kathmandu's cement and concrete buildings survived with only minor damage, many of the older buildings, ones made of tile or wood or bricks, have been leveled.

"Things have to return to normal, but it will take time," he said. "No one is ready to do the work needed to recover because of the closeness of the deaths. There is still shock."

Associated Press writer Katy Daigle reported from Gumda, Nepal.

'We are hungry:' Aid reaches epicenter, Nepal toll tops 5000

April 29, 2015

GUMDA, Nepal (AP) — Hands pressed together in supplication, the Nepalese women pleaded for food, shelter and anything else the helicopter might have brought on an in-and-out run Wednesday to this smashed mountain village near the epicenter of last weekend's mammoth earthquake that killed more than 5,000 people.

Unlike in Nepal's capital, where most buildings were spared complete collapse, the tiny hamlets clinging to the remote mountainsides of Gorkha District have been ravaged. Entire clusters of homes were reduced to piles of stone and splintered wood. Orange plastic tarps used for shelter now dot the cliff sides and terraced rice paddies carved into the land.

"We are hungry," cried a woman who gave her name only as Deumaya, gesturing toward her stomach and opening her mouth to emphasize her desperation. Another woman, Ramayana, her eyes hollow and haunted, repeated the plea: "Hungry! We are hungry!"

But food is not the only necessity in short supply out here beyond the reaches of paved roads, electricity poles and other benefits of the modern world. These days, even water is scarce. Communication is a challenge. And modern medical care is a luxury many have never received.

Gumda is one of a handful of villages identified as the worst hit by Saturday's 7.8-magnitude earthquake, from which it will almost certainly take years to recover. As in many villages, though, the death toll in Gumda was far lower than feared, since many villagers were working outdoors when the quake struck at midday. Of Gumda's 1,300 people, five were killed in the quake and 20 more were injured.

As the helicopter landed Wednesday with 40-kilogram (90-pound) sacks of rice, wind and rain whipped across the crest of the mountain. Seeing the conditions, the U.N. World Food Program's Geoff Pinnock shouted over the roar of the propellers, "the next shipment has to be plastic sheets. These people need shelter more than they need food."

About 200 villagers huddled under a few umbrellas and plastic tarps as they waited to receive the aid, some with runny noses and chattering teeth. With the erratic Himalayan weather, aid workers are worried about keeping people warm, fed and safe.

"More helicopters, more personnel and certainly more relief supplies including medical teams, shelter, tents, water and sanitation and food are obviously needed," said Pinnock, who was coordinating the aid relief flights.

With 8 million Nepalese affected by the earthquake, including 1.4 million needing immediate food assistance, Pinnock said the relief effort would stretch on for months. "It doesn't happen overnight," he said.

Nepalese police said Wednesday the death toll from the quake had reached 5,027. Another 18 were killed on the slopes of Mount Everest, while 61 died in neighboring India, and China's official Xinhua News Agency reported 25 dead in Tibet.

The disaster also injured more than 10,000, police said, and rendered thousands more homeless. The U.N. says the disaster has affected 8.1 million people — more than a fourth of Nepal's population of 27.8 million — and that 1.4 million needed food assistance.

Planes carrying food and other supplies have been steadily arriving at Kathmandu's small airport, but the aid distribution process remains fairly chaotic, with Nepalese officials having difficulty directing the flow of emergency supplies.

About 200 people blocked traffic in the capital Wednesday to protest the slow pace of aid delivery. The protesters faced off with police and there were minor scuffles but no arrests were made. Police arrested dozens of people on suspicion of looting abandoned homes as well as causing panic by spreading rumors of another big quake. Police official Bigyan Raj Sharma said 27 people were detained for stealing.

But in a sign that life was inching back to normal, banks in Kathmandu opened for a few hours Wednesday and stuffed their ATMs with cash, giving people access to money. Thousands of people lined up at bus stations in the capital, hoping to reach their hometowns in rural areas. Some have had little news of family and loved ones since Saturday's quake. Others are scared of staying close to the epicenter, northwest of Kathmandu.

"I am hoping to get on a bus, any bus heading out of Kathmandu. I am too scared to be staying in Kathmandu," said Raja Gurung, who wanted to get to his home in western Nepal. "The house near my rented apartment collapsed. It was horrible. I have not gone indoors in many days. I would rather leave than a live a life of fear in Kathmandu."

In some heartening news, French rescuers freed a man from the ruins of a three-story Kathmandu hotel more than three days after the quake. Rishi Khanal, 27, said he drank his own urine to survive. Khanal had just finished lunch at a hotel on Saturday and had gone up to the second floor when everything suddenly started moving and falling. He was struck by falling masonry and trapped with his foot crushed under rubble.

"I had some hope but by yesterday I'd given up. My nails went all white and my lips cracked ... I was sure no one was coming for me. I was certain I was going to die," he told The Associated Press from his hospital bed on Wednesday.

Khanal said he was surrounded by dead people and a terrible smell. But he kept banging on the rubble all around him and eventually this brought a French rescue team that extracted him after being trapped for 82 hours.

"I am thankful," he said.

Associated Press writers Binaj Gurubacharya, Jerry Harmer and Rishi Lekhi in Kathmandu contributed to this report.

Quake agony revealed quietly on trip from Nepal airport

April 26, 2015

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Soon after landing at Kathmandu airport, the Thai Airways captain made a bizarre announcement to passengers: Nobody is in the control tower.

That meant we could taxi no farther, and we were trapped on the tarmac. It took the pilot another half-hour to explain that air-traffic controller had left the tower because there had been an aftershock, one of several that has struck fear into this mountainous nation since Saturday's massive tremor killed more than 2,500 people.

Those moments and many others in my first hours in Nepal's capital revealed that while much of Kathmandu appears to have been spared physical damage from the earthquake, other signs of trauma are everywhere.

We waited while airport officials inspected the tarmac for damage and cracks. In the back of the plane, an argument broke out. A Thai airways staffer was telling a Chinese businessman to get off his cellphone.

"I will not!" shouted Jun Sun. "I'm speaking to my family. This is important. "I need to know they are OK now. I need to know my wife and daughter are OK." Sun, who works in the telecommunications industry, said he was returning from a conference in Bangkok. He tried to call his wife to find out how she and his 10-month-old daughter were, but could not get through because the network was so congested.

He spoke to her "for a few seconds" on the Chinese social media service WeChat — it was just enough to know they were alive. On Sunday he was able to really talk to them for the first time. "They slept out in the open last night. I'm going to get them out of here," he said. "It's not safe yet. Something worse may yet happen."

He pulled out his cellphone and showed several images of destroyed homes in Kathmandu that colleagues had sent. "This is what we are worried about," he said, pointing to a picture of a huge crack running up the side of the multi-story apartment building he lives in.

When our jet finally got the green light to move forward, well over an hour later, it taxied past a large Indian military cargo plane. Soldiers stood on the tarmac, unloading supplies and trolleys filled with fuel — which Kathmandu residents say is running precariously low.

On the walk into the airport, we could see hundreds of people, mostly tourists, crowded behind the glass walls of a terminal building, clearly hoping for a flight out. One man's face was covered with large bandages.

Elsewhere, foreign rescue teams could be seen sitting in groups, planning missions into the city. Flights also resumed — we saw a gray cargo plane hurtling above. After customs, it was clear nothing was normal. The hotel reservations center was empty. The Yeti Money Exchange was empty.

And in the parking lot outside the arrivals hall, no taxis waited. Instead, thousands of scared and frustrated Indian nationals stood in huge lines, hoping to get on evacuation flights their government was organizing.

Tempers frayed as the wait dragged on. Ghan Shyam Son said he and his family had been on a four-day trip as tourists and were supposed to leave Saturday. "But our flight was canceled. We spent last night sleeping outside, in the open. We're trying to leave here, we're so afraid."

Pooja Bhandari, standing beside him, was blunt: "No water. No light. I am hungry. No drinking water. No sleeping well. Very disturbed," she said. Another Indian national who had come to Nepal as a tourist sat forlornly on the curb. Two of her friends were missing, she said.

As I drove out of the airport with an Associated Press team of journalists, the line of desperate Indians wrapped around the block and then some. Although the part of the city we drove through appeared largely undamaged, everyone, everywhere seemed to be sitting outside. The city's old quarter lies in ruins, but from above, most of Kathmandu looked as it always did. Five-, 10-, 15-story buildings spread across terraced hills that stretch into the distance.

Shops are shuttered, including Pizza Hut, Baskin-Robbins and Himalayan Java Coffee ("Serving Nepali Coffee Since 1999"). Grassy parks were full of distraught people, sitting, standing, talking. Many more congregated in groups, sitting on curbs, on steps, anywhere outside. They all fear another aftershock may bring down buildings yet.

At the Hotel Annapurna, a two-story wall in front of reception has a large crack in it. The electricity is out. The hallways are dark. Foreign guests took blankets and pillows and cushions and sat down outside.

This short trip from the airport merely hinted at the devastation this country has felt. The full story, told from vulnerable mountain villages, distant historic sites and other places, is still being revealed.