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Fear Still Grips Nepalis in Kathmandu Post-Quake

CBN

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NEPAL -- Poor weather conditions have put a temporary halt on efforts to recover additional bodies and the wreckage of a U.S. rescue helicopter that went missing in Nepal earlier this week.

Six Marines and two Nepalis were on board the helicopter delivering humanitarian aid to several mountain villages in the earthquake-hit Himalayas when it disappeared Tuesday.

Three bodies have been recovered and the cause of the crash is not known at this time. There were no survivors.           

Meanwhile, Nepalis remain on edge as another earthquake and a series of aftershocks shook their nation this week.

Fear and insecurity returned to Nepal Tuesday when the 7.3 quake shook the country for a second time in less than three weeks. And if that was not bad enough, a powerful 6.3 aftershock awakened Nepalis early Wednesday morning. 

But that has not deterred Christian aid workers from delivering much-needed relief. CBN Disaster Relief's Brian Scott is on the ground in Kathmandu.

"As soon as the earthquake hit, everyone screamed. Everyone in Kathmandu it seemed -- the loudest, blood curdling scream of terror and fear was just echoing throughout the entire valley for a minute and a half, crying, panicking because it was an earthquake in the night," he told CBN News.

Now in constant fear for their lives, many Nepalis are too afraid to go back inside their homes.

"Many people are still sleeping in tents, many people are fatigued from being up at night in panic and in fear," Scott explained. "There are a lot of people leaving on buses going to the south of the country, getting out of the mountains and going down where there is low land and flat lands."

While many people have fled Kathmandu, CBN Disaster Relief teams have not given up on helping the people, despite the ongoing earthquake risk.

"We have a cadre of around 46 staff that are working pretty much day and night. We're actively giving blankets, providing food, doing medical care, and now potentially, Lord willing, clean water," Scott explained.

They're providing help in both the capital city and in remote villages.

And more help is on its way. Eighty tons of relief from CBN India is expected to clear Nepali customs within the next several days.

"You know, the earthquake is not stopping us. We are active in getting out and making sure people get (help)," Scott said.

"The people who are in the villages of Nepal are in greater need than those of us who have come to help them. We are working full time bringing as much help as we can--as much hope and help in the name of Jesus Christ to the people of Nepal," he added.

People like one elderly Nepali man, who is now living in a tent because his home is unsafe. He thanked CBN for providing him with rice, blankets, and tarps to help him stay dry when monsoon rains begin in the coming weeks.

Scott and other relief team members responded by telling the man, "It is our pleasure. Our God in heaven gives us the opportunity to give to you. For it is more blessed to give than to receive. As He loves us, we want to love you."

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