101-year-old rescued alive from quake rubble

A 101-year-old Nepalese man, who managed to survive under his house's debris after the quake, was pulled out by rescue teams on Sunday. The centenarian, known as Funchu Tamang or Funchu Ghale, suffered only minor injuries, interior ministry spokesman Laxmi Dhakal told journalists.

"He was brought to the district hospital in a helicopter. His condition is stable," police officer Arun Kumar Singh told AFP news agency. "He has injuries on his left ankle and hand. His family is with him," Singh added.

Tamang had been lying under the ruins of his mud house in Kimtang village in Nuwakot district before a team including Nepalese policemen and Japanese rescue experts pulled him out.

Policemen also pulled out two women and a man trapped under the debris in Sindhupalchowk village, one of the worst affected by the quake. All had been taken to a hospital for treatment.

Life returning to normal

News of survivors spread hope among many people who were still looking for their relatives and friends under landslides and the debris of collapsed buildings. Officials said on Saturday they were going to stop looking for survivors and focus on providing food and assistance for people in need.

The official death toll had reached 7,040 on Monday. One of the most daunting tasks officials still face is to provide tents to the millions rendered homeless by the earthquake that struck some 80 kilometers off Nepal's capital Kathmandu on April 25. Spokesman Dhakal said they were in need of 400,000 tents, of which the government had been able to provide only 47,000.

One fifth of Kathmandu's population, or 900,000 people, have left the capital for safer areas. In Nepal, some are beginning to clean up their streets and neighborhoods.

Vendors have begun setting up their stalls, but they are afraid of the strong aftershocks that have shaken the Himalayan nation after the quake, which had a magnitude of 7.8 on the Richter scale.

mg/gsw (dpa, AFP)