Kathmandu - The joyous rescue of two survivors of last weekend's Nepal earthquake added new urgency Friday to the search for signs of life in the ruins of Kathmandu as the Red Cross warned of "total devastation" in remote areas.
Six days on from the 7.8-magnitude quake, authorities put the number of dead in Nepal at more than 6,200 while around 100 more were killed in neighbouring India and China.
But the full extent of the destruction wrought by Nepal's deadliest earthquake in more than 80 years was still only just emerging as relief workers struggled to reach remote regions of the vast Himalayan nation.
Rescuers from more than 20 countries have been taking part in the search for survivors in the rubble-strewn capital Kathmandu as well as far-flung rural areas near the epicentre.
After hopes had begun to dwindle that anyone else would be found alive, the rescue effort received a double shot in the arm on Wednesday when a 15-year-old was pulled to safety from inside a collapsed guesthouse before a woman in her 30s was rescued nearby late at night.
AFP
