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ISO 9001:2008 CERTIFIED NEWSPAPER Home | 5 Business | 19 Sport | 28 Travellers Gulf Warehousing Volleyball: Emir urged to take Co net profit Cup action precaution jumps 40 percent kicks off against malaria. in first quarter. from May 3. SUNDAY 26 APRIL 2015 • 7 Rajab 1436 • Volume 20 Number 6412 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com [email protected] | [email protected] Editorial: 4455 7741 | Advertising: 4455 7837 / 4455 7780 Over 1,300 killed in Nepal quake Kathmandu landmarks destroyed; airport briefly closed; search on for survivors; thousands sleep in the open KATHMANDU: Tens of thou- Indian television. sands of people were spending Hospitals across the nation the night in the open under a Emir sends struggled to cope with the dead chilly and thunderous sky after and injured from Nepal’s worst a powerful earthquake devas- condolences quake in 81 years, and a lack of tated Nepal yesterday, killing equipment meant rescuers could more than 1,382 people, collaps- DOHA: Emir H H Sheikh look no deeper than surface rub- ing modern houses and ancient Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani ble for signs of life. temples and triggering a land- sent yesterday a cable of Areas of Kathmandu were slide on Mount Everest. Officials condolences to President of reduced to rubble, and rescue warned the death toll would rise Nepal Ram Baran Yadav operations had still not begun in as more reports came in from after an earthquake that hit some remote areas. Among the far-flung areas. Nepal yesterday. The Emir capital’s landmarks destroyed in Nepal urged countries to send expressed his deep condo- the earthquake was the 60-metre- aid to help it cope with the after- lences to the the families high (100-foot) Dharahara Tower, math as the desperate search for of the victims, wishing the built in 1832 for the queen of survivors continued into the early injured a swift recovery. Nepal, with a viewing balcony hours today. QNA that had been open to visitors for As fears of a humanitarian dis- the last 10 years. aster grew, thousands of people A jagged stump 10 metres braved freezing temperatures to high was all that was left of the sleep on pavements, in parks or lighthouse-like structure. As bod- in fields, too afraid to return to Qatari citizens ies were pulled from the ruins, a homes damaged by the quake. policeman said up to 200 people The US Geological Survey safe: Embassy had been trapped inside. put the magnitude of the quake DOHA: The Qatari Across the city, rescuers at 7.9. It said the quake hit at Embassy in Nepal said scrabbled through the rubble of 11:56am local time (0611 GMT) at yesterday that all Qatari destroyed buildings, among them Lamjung, about 80km northwest citizens and the diplomatic ancient, wooden Hindu temples. People search for survivors under the rubble of collapsed buildings at Durbar Square in Kathmandu yesterday. of Kathmandu. delegation were in good Foreign climbers and their The quake tore through the health after the earthquake Nepalese guides around Mount middle of highways in the capi- that hit the country. The Everest were caught by the trem- tal and also caused damage to embassy called on Qatari ors and a huge avalanche. An Nepalese workers in shock the country’s only international citizens in Nepal to be on Indian army mountaineering team airport which was briefly closed. guard. The embassy added found 18 bodies on Mount Everest, Aftershock tremors could be felt that citizens in need of help where an avalanche unleashed by BY MOHAMMAD SHOEB I reach home’.” He said after this some mobiles networks are still more than two hours after the can call 0097714721631 and the earthquake swept through base brief conversation, the phone in operation in some areas. initial quake. 009779802400000. QNA camp. More than 1,000 climbers DOHA: Many Nepalese work- got disconnected and since then “My wife, who was supposed to The home ministry said the had gathered there at the start of ers in Qatar are in a state of he has been continuously trying land in Doha today, is stranded death toll had reached 1,382. the climbing season. shock and grief as they are not for several hours but could not at Katmandu as the airport has A police spokesman said more action plan and lots needs to Aid groups readied staff to go able to establish contacts with get through. “The only source of been shut. But I am a bit relieved than 630 of them were killed in be done,” said Information and to Nepal with supplies to pro- their loved ones back home as information about the earthquake after talking to my brother in-law Kathmandu Valley and at least Broadcasting Minister Minendra vide clean water, sanitation and the devastating 7.9 magnitude is Facebook, which does not tell on his land phone,” said Deepak 300 more in the capital. Rijal. “Our country is in a moment emergency food. A spokesman for earthquake has disrupted com- anything about my own people,” Prasad, who works with a leading “We have launched a mas- of crisis and we will require tre- Nepal’s home ministry said the munication lines in different Kamal said. hypermarket. sive rescue and rehabilitation mendous support and aid,” he told government had released around parts of the country, including “A friend of mine flew yester- Prasad expressed his concern, $500m as emergency funds for the capital Kathmandu. day by Flydubai airline, but there saying: “Although the aid and rescue operations. “My wife is pregnant. I am very is no news of him -- whether he rescue teams have started pour- Neighbouring India, where 44 worried about her safety, but I am has reached home or is stranded ing in from overseas, including people were reported killed in not able to get any information in Dubai,” he said. According to from India, there will be an acute the quake and its aftershocks, through any of the three numbers reports, Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan shortage of food, water, and other was first to respond to calls for I have,” said Arjun Bahdur, a resi- International Airport was shut essential items in the Nepal’s big- help, sending military aircraft dent of Baglung district of Nepal. yesterday following the earth- gest city as the local supply lines with medical equipment and relief Kamal, another resident of the quake, resulting in the cancella- have been severely damaged in teams. Offers of help poured in same district, who gave only his tion of scores of flights from and the earthquake.” from governments around the first name, said: “The only informa- to the airport, including Nepal According to him, the scale of world, with the United States and tion I have about my family is that Airlines, Flydubai, Air Arabia, damage will be very huge because the European Union announc- my wife is alive, but I don’t know Jet Airways and several flights of most of the old houses in the ing they were sending in disas- about my children and the damage Qatar Airways. country, including in Kathmandu, ter response teams. There were the earthquake has caused to my But some Nepalese here are are made of mud and cement similar offers from Sri Lanka house and my village. planning to fly to neighboring blocks with very little use of steel. and Pakistan. In Europe, Britain, “After several attempts I spoke India and use the land routes to Another Nepalese, Abdul Hakeem, Germany, Norway and Spain also to my wife for a few minutes while reach home as quickly as possible working as an electrician, said: “As pledged support and assistance. she was on her way back home to join their families as they are we come from an area close to the China’s official Xinhua news from her parents’ village, but she not able to contact them. Indian border, most of the villag- agency said that 13 people were was nearly 300 metres away. She A source told The Peninsula ers carry an Indian number on killed in the Tibet region. could only say, ‘I can see from that most of the mobile services standby, as the local networks often A man and woman hold each other after the quake. AGENCIES here, the house is standing, but are dysfunctional. However, he provide poor connectivity.” See also pages 5, 12 & 14 can’t tell you anything more until said some fixed line phones and THE PENINSULA Britain’s Conservatives Qaeda, allies take regime take three-point lead Qatar Chamber to study over Labour, says poll holdout in northwest Syria private school problems BEIRUT: Al Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate and its allies seized the last LONDON: Prime Minister David major government-held city in Idlib province yesterday, in a blow Cameron’s Conservative Party has taken a DOHA: Amid complaints about a severe well as the high rents. He said the purpose of that could expose the regime’s coastal heartland to rebel attack. 3 percentage point lead over the opposition shortage of private schools in the country, the study is to identity the major obstacles fac- The capture of Jisr Al Shughur in the northwestern province comes Labour Party, according to a Survation poll the Qatar Chamber, representative body of ing private education and take it up with the nearly a month after the same coalition of opposition forces, known for The Mail on Sunday newspaper ahead of the private sector is conducting a survey competent authorities to find suitable solutions. as the “Army of Conquest”, overran the provincial capital. The city’s the May 7 election.

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