Nepal quake death toll rises to 4300

(Vatican Radio) The death toll from an earthquake which struck Nepal and neighboring countries on Saturday has risen to more than 4300.

Officials say more than 8,000 have been injured.

Listen to Ann Schneible’s report:

International aid supplies have started to arrive in Nepal where around 8 million people have been affected by the quake, according to the United Nations.

The UN says more than 1.4 million of those affected are in need of food aid.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people are left without shelter and are living in the open without clean water or sanitation.

The United Kingdom has sent an RAF plane with aid supplies and British troops.

“Survivability in earthquakes, and the length of survivability for people trapped within buildings go on for a number of days,” said Rob Davies, a British fireman heading to Nepal to help in the search and rescue operation.

“We’ve historically found that we’ve been pulling live people out of the rubble fifteen, sixteen, seventeen days later.”

Saturday’s quake is the deadliest to strike the Himalayan nation in 81 years.