Nepal prime minister: Death toll could reach 10,000

Nepal's prime minister said Tuesday the death toll from the devastating earthquake that rocked the country Saturday could reach 10,000, and the United Nations estimated 8 million people have been affected.

Prime Minister Sushil Koirala made the statement to Reuters as he appealed for tents and medicine and ordered rescue efforts to be stepped up. International aid has started arriving in the country.

The death toll from the magnitude-7.8 quake has soared past 4,700. Hundreds of thousands of people are sleeping outdoors and living in the open because they are homeless or out of fear of being inside amid aftershocks. It rained heavily Tuesday in the capital of Kathmandu, forcing people to find shelter wherever they could.

Gautam Rimal, an official in rural Nepal, said 250 people are believed missing following a mudslide and avalanche in the isolated village of Ghodatabela, not far from the epicenter of the quake, the Associated Press reported.

Among those killed are 18 people, including four Americans, who died on Mount Everest after the quake triggered an avalanche that buried part of the base camp at the world's highest mountain. At least 61 people died in India, and 25 were reported dead in Tibet as tremors from the quake rippled across the region.

"The government is doing all it can for rescue and relief on a war footing," Koirala told Reuters. "It is a challenge and a very difficult hour for Nepal."

The death toll and the number of injured — which the United Nations puts at nearly 7,000 — is expected to rise as search-and-rescue teams reach remote areas in the Himalayan country.

American doctor Rebecca McAteer, who is working in the quake zone, told the AP that most rural people were working in the fields when the earthquake hit around noon, meaning they escaped injury when buildings collapsed.

"In some villages, about 90% of the houses have collapsed. They're just flattened," she said. "The immediate need is getting support to where it's needed, but there will be a lot of work rebuilding."

Thomas Meyer, an engineer with the International Nepal Fellowship, added: "This is a long-term emergency," AP reported. "This will need major attention for the next five years. People have nothing left."

A U.N. situation report said 1.4 million people are in need of food, according to early indications.

"Of these, 750,000 people live near the epicenter in poor quality housing," the report said. "Impact on agriculture-based livelihoods and food security is expected to be extremely high."

Jamie McGoldrick, the U.N. resident coordinator in Kathmandu, told reporters that 8 million people had been affected by the quake, the AP reported.

The United Nations Population Fund warned that hospitals in the Katmandu Valley are overcrowded, while the Injured are being treated in the streets. Women and girls are especially vulnerable, the fund said.

"The Fund is particularly concerned about the fate of pregnant women who have been affected by this tragedy, including those who might face potentially life-threatening complications," said Babatunde Osotimehin, UNFPA's executive director.

Emergency workers were being deployed and dignity and reproductive health kits were on the way to the country, the organization said.