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       Area Near Nepal Quake Epicenter Getting Aid, Death Toll Tops 5,000

   by VOA News

   The United Nations says it is beginning to distribute food and medicine
   Wednesday in the area near the epicenter of Saturday's earthquake in
   Nepal, where the death toll continues to rise.

   The World Food Program's efforts around Gorkha come as Nepalese
   officials pledged that Wednesday would bring improvements in the
   government's response for those in need of food, water and shelter.

   Meanwhile, search and rescue workers continued picking through rubble
   caused by the magnitude-7.8 quake.  Late Tuesday, a French team pulled
   a man from his collapsed home in the capital, Kathmandu, where he had
   been trapped for more than 80 hours.

   Officials said Wednesday the official death toll had climbed past 5,000
   people with another 10,000 injured.

   Help has been slow to reach remote areas of Nepal with poor roads and
   rain making travel by land a major challenge.  The U.N. estimated the
   earthquake has affected 8 million people -- more than a quarter of the
   country's population -- with 1.4 million in need of food.

   U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos is due to travel to Nepal on
   Thursday to assess aid operations.

   With many people frustrated by what they say is a slow response by the
   government, thousands of people gathered in Kathmandu on Wednesday
   looking to board buses to leave the city and reach their families in
   outlying areas.

   Nepalese Prime Minister Sushil Koirala pledged in a televised address
   Tuesday to rebuild historically, religiously and archaeologically
   significant structures and declared three days of mourning for the
   victims of the earthquake.

   The International Committee of the Red Cross created a [1]website for
   friends and family to report missing loved ones, or search for those
   who have checked in.
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   [2]http://www.voanews.com/content/area-near-nepal-quake-epicenter-getti
   ng-aid/2741220.html

References

   1. http://familylinks.icrc.org/nepal-earthquake/en/Pages/Home.aspx
   2. http://www.voanews.com/content/area-near-nepal-quake-epicenter-getting-aid/2741220.html