尼泊爾地震災後救援遇阻

The death toll from Nepal’s worst earthquake in 80 years rose to about 3,800 yesterday, with 6,500 injured, as rescuers struggled to reach reMote hill villages while Kathmandu’s small airport was overwhelmed by flights carrying relief supplies.

昨天，尼泊爾80年來最嚴重地震的死亡人數攀升至約4000人，另有6500人在地震中受傷。與此同時，救援人員正在艱難地向尼泊爾偏遠山村進發，攜帶救援物資的航班數量大大超出了加德滿都小機場的承載能力。

Nepalese media said rescue teams had failed to reach some villages in northern Gorkha, near the earthquake’s epicentre, by yesterday afternoon, more than 48 hours after the 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck on Saturday. Overnight rain and fresh landslides hindered rescue attempts.

尼泊爾媒體表示，截至昨天下午，救援隊伍仍未抵達震中附近的廓爾喀(Gorkha)北部部分村莊，當時距這場上週六發生的7.8級地震已超過48小時。連夜的大雨及新出現的多次山體滑坡，妨礙了人們的救援努力。

However, international efforts to assist the stricken Himalayan nation were gathering momentum. Search-and-rescue teams from India, China, Pakistan, the US, Israel and the Netherlands are on the ground, with more from the UK, Finland and Japan expected shortly. The squads are carrying emergency relief supplies and using specially trained dogs to search for people trapped in the rubble.

不過，國際社會援助這個受災喜馬拉雅國家的努力正在積聚力量。來自印度、中國、巴基斯坦、美國、以色列和荷蘭的搜救團隊已抵達當地，來自英國、芬蘭及日本的團隊預計將很快抵達。這些團隊攜帶着緊急救援物資，並使用受過專門訓練的犬搜尋困在瓦礫中的人們。

Kathmandu’s tiny Tribhuvan International Airport has struggled to keep pace with the volume of air traffic, with many aircraft forced to circle for hours before landing.

加德滿都特里布萬國際機場(Tribhuvan International Airport)是個很小的機場，很難應對如此巨大的空中交通量，許多飛機在着陸前不得不盤旋數個小時。

Many commercial flights from India, carrying relief supplies and anguished Nepalis hoping to aid distressed relatives, were diverted or cancelled because of the congestion.

由於空中交通的堵塞，許多來自印度的商業航班被分流至其他機場或被取消。這些商業航班要麼攜帶着救援物資，要麼坐着希望幫助危難中親友的痛苦的尼泊爾人。

Meanwhile, Nepali helicopter pilots took advantage of improved weather to ferry climbers stranded on Mount Everest back to safety following an avalanche triggered by the quake.

與此同時，尼泊爾直升機飛行員趁天氣好轉，運出了此前被地震引發的雪崩困在珠穆朗瑪峯的登山者。

Further west, aerial surveys of the worst affected valleys, carried out jointly by Indian Air Force helicopters and Nepali military officials, revealed widespread devastation.

在更靠西部的地方，印度空軍直升機與尼泊爾軍官對受災最嚴重村莊展開的聯合空中勘察發現了大面積的受災情況。

“Helicopters found village after village in remote Himalayan valleys completely flattened by the quake,” Kunda Dixit, editor of the Nepali Times, wrote on a blog. “Tens of thousands of people are without shelter and in urgent need of medical attention.”

“直升機在邊遠的喜馬拉雅山山谷發現了一個又一個被地震夷爲平地的村莊。”尼泊爾時報(Nepali Times)主編孔達•迪克西特(Kunda Dixit)在博客上寫道，“數萬人失去住所，急需醫療救助。”

More than 900 of the deaths have occurred in or near Kathmandu, according to police, who are waiting for earthmoving equipment to arrive so they can begin digging in the rubble in the hope of finding more survivors.

警方表示，逾900名死難者是在加德滿都或加德滿都附近遇難的。警方眼下正等待挖掘設備到達，以便開始挖開瓦礫，希望能找到更多幸存者。

Thousands have been injured across Nepal and the UN Development Programme estimates more than 40 per cent of the country’s land mass has been affected. About 6.6m of Nepal’s 28m people live in the earthquake zone. Binod Bhattarai and Victor Mallet in Kathmandu and Amy Kazmin in Delhi

尼泊爾全境內有數千人受傷，聯合國開發計劃署(UN Development Programme)估計，該國境內逾40%的土地都受到了地震影響。尼泊爾2800萬人口中有約660萬人在地震帶上生活。