Nepal earthquake: Frustration mounts over relief effort

Frustration is growing in parts of rural Nepal over the pace of relief efforts, with some badly-affected villages yet to receive any assistance.

Survivors in some areas told the BBC that they were angry that aid neither food nor medicine has reached them.

The UN has appealed for $415m (£270m) to help provide emergency relief over the next three months.

Officials say Saturday’s quake killed more than 5,500 people, and injured at least 11,000.

Meanwhile, a 15-year-old boy has been found alive in a damaged building in the capital, Kathmandu.

Rescuers are still trying to bring the boy out of the rubble, says BBC Five Live’s Nick Garnett, who is at the scene.

The UN says more than eight million people have been affected by Saturday’s 7.8-magnitude quake and some 70,000 houses have been destroyed.

The government says it has been overwhelmed by the disaster.

In several villages north-east of the capital, Kathmandu, no buildings have been left untouched and bodies are still lying under the rubble, the BBC’s Richard Galpin reports.

There has been no help from the government or aid agencies even though supplies could easily be brought in by road or by helicopter, he says

“We will die if there is no help from the government or other organisations,” Dhan Bahadur Shresta, a resident of Deupur Sipaghat Kavre village, told our correspondent.

“We will starve to death and could get diseases like cholera and dysentery and there could be an epidemic.”

Some helicopter crews who have managed to land in isolated communities have been faced with desperate villagers pleading to be airlifted to safety.

In the village of Sangachowk, angry villagers blocked the main road with tyres and stopped trucks of rice and other aid headed for other areas, Reuters news agency reported.

The villagers also reportedly blocked a convoy of army trucks loaded with relief supplies, leading to a tense standoff with armed soldiers.

©BBC