Earthquake death toll revised to 153; 16,570 houses damaged in Rukum West; President Paudel to visit quake-affected areas

Kathmandu / Nov 6: The death toll from the magnitude 6.4 earthquake that struck western Nepal has been revised to 153 from 157, with authorities citing duplication of some names in the previous count.

Previously, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Law of Karnali Province reported that 105 people had died in Jajarkot and 52 in Rukum West in the earthquake.

The authorities have now revised the death toll in Jajarkot to 101, while the death toll in Rukum West remains unchanged.

An earthquake of magnitude 6.4 occurred on Friday night with its epicenter at Lamidanda in Jajarkot. After the initial earthquake, aftershocks continue to rattle Jajarkot.

President Paudel to visit quake-affected areas

Meanwhile, President Ram Chandra Paudel has decided to visit earthquake-affected areas to understand the situation of the earthquake victims.

President Paudel’s Press Advisor Kiran Pokharel said that the program for President Paudel to visit earthquake-affected areas has been decided on Tuesday morning. He added that President Paudel has decided to postpone his foreign tour for his visit to the earthquake-affected areas.

President Paudel was scheduled to visit France, Germany and Italy on November 8 and return home on November 17. For this purpose, the Cabinet meeting held on November 2 also approved the foreign visit of President Paudel.

The President’s Press Advisor Pokharel said through a press note that President Paudel has postponed his foreign visit with the conclusion that it is not appropriate to leave the country during a natural disaster.

16,570 houses completely damaged due to earthquake in Rukum West

As many as 16,570 houses have been completely destroyed in the earthquake in six local units in Rukum West.

Chairman of the District Disaster Management Committee and Chief District Officer, Hari Prasad Panta, said that this number might increase as data collection is still underway in the district. Based on the data presented by the municipality mayors and the rural municipality chairpersons in the Committee meeting, the highest number of houses were damaged in Aathbiskot Municipality of the district.

It is stated that 7,148 houses were completely damaged in Aathbiskot Municipality, followed by 3,146 houses in Sanibheri Rural Municipality. Seven hundred and twenty-two houses in Sanibheri have been partially damaged by the Friday night tremor.

Similarly, 1,987 houses were completely damaged and 4,374 houses partly damaged in Chaurajahari Municipality while 2,300 houses were completely destroyed and 3,500 partially damaged in Musikot Municipality.

Likewise, 1,935 houses were completely damaged and 1,258 houses partially damaged in Triveni Rural Municipality while 18 houses were completely damaged and 107 houses partially damaged in Banfikot Rural Municipality, it is stated.RSS