This Article is From Apr 27, 2015

He Dug Through Rubble With His Hands to Find His Sister Dead

Narayan dug through rubble with his bare hands and found the body of his sister killed in Saturday's powerful earthquake in Nepal

Bhaktapur, Nepal: Narayan, a resident of Bhaktapur, 12 km from Kathmandu, returned home two days after a powerful earthquake devastated Nepal, killing more than 3,700 people.

Home is now an enormous pile of rubble that he dug through with his bare hands looking for his sister.

"I called the administration for help, they keep saying they will just come, but no one has," he said, explaining that he was looking for his sister - "mera didi, sister," he said.

Removing stones and debris, Narayan, 45, did find his sister's body. She lay face down, one hand visible.

"Now all I want to do is give my sister a dignified funeral. There were 10 people in this house, five are dead, five are alive," he said, gazing up wistfully at the emptiness where his house stood till two days ago.

Others are back because they have heard that thefts are taking place in the locality. "We are here to save our valuables," said a resident.

Another man said he merely wanted to get utensils from his house to eat in, but it is in such a precarious condition that he is afraid to go in. 55 aftershocks since Saturday's earthquake has made people even afraid to step into their damaged homes, and thousands in Kathmandu spent last night huddled under make-shift tents.

In the narrow lanes of Bhaktapur, rescuers from police and other teams also dug through debris with shovels or even their hands in a tough search for survivors. "We have no equipment. Bulldozers are too big to access these lanes, so we are using our hands to dig," said a policeman, adding that rain had made rescue more difficult.

35 hours after Saturday's earthquake, he said, there was little hope of finding survivors.

An Army officer and a group of rescuers who worked all night to open a passage into a collapsed building in Kathmandu said they had to use pick axes.
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