Nepal Quake: Airport Shut To Aid Aircraft

Nepal has been forced to partially close its only international airport because its sole runway has been unable to cope with aid aircraft arriving after last month's earthquake.

Concerns over the speed that aid is getting to people affected have increased, with people complaining about a lack of temporary shelters as many sleep outside because of the fear of aftershocks damaging their homes.

The airport in Kathmandu was closed on Sunday to large aircraft, although officials still allowed smaller jets to land.

Birendra Shrestha, manager of the Tribhuwan International Airport, said larger aircraft were banned because the runway was deteriorating and was only built to handle medium-sized jetliners, rather than the military and cargo planes that have been flying since the magnitude-7.8 earthquake.

There have been reports of cracks on the runway at the airport, which has parking slots for only nine aircraft, although Mr Shrestha denied the claims.

He said: "There are no visible cracks in the runway but there have been so many tremors recently that we have to take precautions - we don't know what's happening below the surface.

"This runway is the only lifeline for Kathmandu - if it goes, everything goes."

The UN's head of humanitarian affairs Valerie Amos has said she is "extremely concerned" that Nepal's customs authorities are also slowing the delivery of aid.

She said: "I was extremely concerned to hear reports that customs was taking such a long time.

"He [Prime Minister Sushil Koirala] has undertaken to ensure that happens [speeding up of clearance], so I hope that from now we will see an improvement in those administrative issues."

There have also been reports that customs officials have stopped trucks carrying aid from crossing into Nepal from India.

The number of people killed in the disaster has reached 7,040, according to the Emergency Operations Centre, with more than 14,000 people injured.

More than 100 people were also killed in India and China.

The UN has said more than 160,000 homes have been destroyed and another 143,000 damaged in the quake.

UNICEF has warned of a race against time to prevent the outbreak of disease among the 1.7 million children thought to be living in the worst-hit areas.

Aid officials have said more helicopters are needed to bring aid to isolated mountain villages which have been cut off by landslides.

One Briton - married father-of-three Hemchandra Rai, 42, who lived in Hong Kong - has been confirmed to have been killed in the earthquake.

Reports that a second Britain was among those killed at Everest's Base Camp are still being investigated.

Sky's Chief Correspondent Stuart Ramsay, who has travelled to Base Camp, said bodies were still being recovered from the mountain.

Climber David "Chimu" McGrain, founder of the Inti Raymi Fund who stayed on Everest to help rescue others, told him: "At first my heart went out to the indigenous people because every single time when catastrophe hits, nine out of 10 times it affects the sherpas and porters.

"And very quickly it was game over for me as a climber."