Nepal quake: Airport issues ban on larger planes

Nepal quake: Airport issues ban on larger planes


Tribhuvan Airport has been the hub for international aid efforts for Nepal


Nepal's only international airport has banned larger aircraft carrying aid from landing because of concerns over its runway.

Planes heavier than 196 tonnes had been allowed to land after last week's earthquake but restrictions have been imposed because of potholes on the runway, officials say.

A government spokesman said the move would not affect aid efforts.

More than 7,000 people died in the magnitude 7.8 earthquake.

The chief of Nepal's civil aviation authority, Mahendra Singh Rawal, told the BBC that there were no restrictions on medium-sized and smaller aircraft, and that the ban would be lifted after maintenance work to the runway.

Also on Sunday, the United Nations said that the problem of customs controls holding up aid deliveries from the airport was "diminishing".

"The government has taken note of some of the concerns that we've expressed to them and they've addressed those," said Jamie McGoldrick, who is co-ordinating the UN relief effort in Kathmandu.Victims from the Sindhupalchok district were airlifted to Kathmandu on SundayMeanwhile the clean-up continued in one of Kathmandu's historic squares

At least 7,040 people are now known to have been killed in the quake which struck near Kathmandu, Nepalese officials say. More than 14,021 people were injured.

The death toll could go up, as search and rescue efforts continuing in several hill districts including Dhading, Rasuwa and Sindhupalchok, the government has said.

Landslides and poor weather have hampered efforts to deliver aid to isolated districts.

In the Sindhupalchok, which lies north of the capital Kathmandu, 95% of the houses were destroyed, chief district officer Himnath Dawadi told BBC Nepali.

While the vast majority of casualties were in Nepal, about 100 people are reported to have died in neighbouring India, China and Bangladesh.

On Sunday, Nepali police released a list of foreigners who had been killed or wounded. The largest group of nationals affected is Indians, with 39 known to have died and 10 wounded.

The EU envoy to Nepal, Rensje Teerink, said on Friday that the whereabouts of 1,000 EU citizens was still unknown.