According to a recent announcement made by Altay Abibullayev, ambassador-at-large and spokesman at the Kazakh Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kazakhstan will provide aid to Nepal in light of the recent deadly earthquake. He also expressed deep condolences to the government and people of Nepal for the more than 6,000 lives lost during the strong earthquake that happened on April 25.
“We would like to express our gratitude to the governments of Nepal and the Russian Federation for their help provided to the citizens of Kazakhstan in the devastated areas,” Abibullayev said.
Earlier, it was reported that the Kazakh Ministry of Foreign Affairs got in touch with all Kazakh citizens in Nepal. At first, seven Kazakhs were evacuated by Russian helicopters from the Ministry of Emergency Situations on April 30. After arriving in Moscow, the evacuees were put up in hotels while the Embassy organised their flights back to Kazakhstan.
On his Twitter account, Abibullayev named 20 Kazakhs who had already left the country, 14 of them have already arrived in Kazakhstan, however, six of them are still in Nepal. It was reported that the ministry believes that more Kazakh citizens may be in the country.
One of the survivors, Olga Tropinina of Karaganda told Novi Vestnik how she overcame the disaster.
“At first, I did not understand what was going on. It all happened very fast. The ground was shaking for 20-30 seconds, then paused and then it happened all over again. All of the houses around us wobbled from side to side. I had never seen anything like it. I was afraid that the powerlines were going to fallon our heads. At first, I got my camera and began taking photos, but I gradually began to understand what was happening,” she said.
According to Tropinina, they found other survivors in the Russian cultural centre where they had gathered some materials to construct shelters, as no tents were available. After four days of living under a plastic canopy in a field, people were told that they were going to be evacuated by Russian helicopters. Unfortunately, Tropinina’s friend, a citizen of Sweden, was denied boarding without a Russian visa, so online tickets to Turkey were ordered. As for now, both Tropinina and her friend are safe in Istanbul.
An earthquake measuring 7.9 in magnitude occurred in Nepal on April 25 at 6:11 a.m. local time. The epicentre of the earthquake was 82 kilometres northwest of the capital, Kathmandu. According to the latest information, there are currently 6,200 known fatalities and 14,000 wounded. The UN appealed to the international community for an immediate $415 million for humanitarian assistance.
