Nepal hospitals overflowing, rural towns cut off as death toll surpasses 2,300

HONG KONG: Aid groups and governments worldwide intensified efforts Sunday to help earthquake-hit Nepal, but blocked roads, downed power lines and overcrowded hospitals posed formidable challenges in an already poor country.

As the death toll in the Himalayan nation surpassed 2,300, the US together with European and Asian nations sent emergency crews to reinforce those scrambling to find survivors in the devastated capital Kathmandu and in cut-off rural areas.

"Tragically, more bodies are being pulled from collapsed buildings every hour," the Australian Red Cross said in a statement.

"Communication is down in many areas. Widespread destruction, rubble and landslides are preventing access to provide aid in many villages."

Mike Bruce, regional communications manager for the Plan International aid organisation, said many areas -- both rural and in some of the larger towns -- had suffered landslides and roads were blocked.

Although mobile networks appeared to be being restored by mid-afternoon on Sunday, he said, coverage remained sporadic.

"People are sleeping on the streets and cooking outside for the most part. And we are talking about very, very poor areas of Nepal -- areas that are already suffering a great deal," said Bruce.

Other aid organisations relayed fears that stocks of essential supplies were rapidly running out, and described the fearsome effects of the quake.

"We witnessed terrible scenes of destruction -- hospitals were evacuated with patients being treated on the ground outside, homes and buildings demolished and some roads cracked wide open," said Eleanor Trinchera, Caritas Australia programme coordinator for Nepal, who was an hour outside the capital when the quake struck.

A lack of electricity would soon be complicated by a scarcity of water, aid groups said, with medical supplies also dwindling, while Oxfam told AFP morgues were reaching capacity.

"Communication systems are congested and hospitals are crowded and are running out of room for storing dead bodies," Helen Szoke, the charity´s Australia chief executive, told AFP.

Survivors also slept in the open in Kathmandu overnight, braving the cold for fear of being crushed by teetering buildings.

Hundreds of structures, including office blocks and a landmark nine-storey tower, crashed to the ground at around midday on Saturday when the 7.8-magnitude quake struck.