昨天，尼泊尔80年来最严重地震的死亡人数攀升至约4000人，另有6500人在地震中受伤。与此同时，救援人员正在艰难地向尼泊尔偏远山村进发，携带救援物资的航班数量大大超出了加德满都小机场的承载能力。
The death toll from Nepal’s worst earthquake in 80 years rose to about 3,800 yesterday, with 6,500 injured, as rescuers struggled to reach remote hill villages while Kathmandu’s small airport was overwhelmed by flights carrying relief supplies.
尼泊尔媒体表示，截至昨天下午，救援队伍仍未抵达震中附近的廓尔喀(Gorkha)北部部分村庄，当时距这场上周六发生的7.8级地震已超过48小时。连夜的大雨及新出现的多次山体滑坡，妨碍了人们的救援努力。
Nepalese media said rescue teams had failed to reach some villages in northern Gorkha, near the earthquake’s epicentre, by yesterday afternoon, more than 48 hours after the 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck on Saturday. Overnight rain and fresh landslides hindered rescue attempts.
不过，国际社会援助这个受灾喜马拉雅国家的努力正在积聚力量。来自印度、中国、巴基斯坦、美国、以色列和荷兰的搜救团队已抵达当地，来自英国、芬兰及日本的团队预计将很快抵达。这些团队携带着紧急救援物资，并使用受过专门训练的犬搜寻困在瓦砾中的人们。
However, international efforts to assist the stricken Himalayan nation were gathering momentum. Search-and-rescue teams from India, China, Pakistan, the US, Israel and the Netherlands are on the ground, with more from the UK, Finland and Japan expected shortly. The squads are carrying emergency relief supplies and using specially trained dogs to search for people trapped in the rubble.
加德满都特里布万国际机场(Tribhuvan International Airport)是个很小的机场，很难应对如此巨大的空中交通量，许多飞机在着陆前不得不盘旋数个小时。
Kathmandu’s tiny Tribhuvan International Airport has struggled to keep pace with the volume of air traffic, with many aircraft forced to circle for hours before landing.
由于空中交通的堵塞，许多来自印度的商业航班被分流至其他机场或被取消。这些商业航班要么携带着救援物资，要么坐着希望帮助危难中亲友的痛苦的尼泊尔人。
Many commercial flights from India, carrying relief supplies and anguished Nepalis hoping to aid distressed relatives, were diverted or cancelled because of the congestion.
与此同时，尼泊尔直升机飞行员趁天气好转，运出了此前被地震引发的雪崩困在珠穆朗玛峰的登山者。
Meanwhile, Nepali helicopter pilots took advantage of improved weather to ferry climbers stranded on Mount Everest back to safety following an avalanche triggered by the quake.
在更靠西部的地方，印度空军直升机与尼泊尔军官对受灾最严重村庄展开的联合空中勘察发现了大面积的受灾情况。
Further west, aerial surveys of the worst affected valleys, carried out jointly by Indian Air Force helicopters and Nepali military officials, revealed widespread devastation.
“直升机在边远的喜马拉雅山山谷发现了一个又一个被地震夷为平地的村庄。”尼泊尔时报(Nepali Times)主编孔达•迪克西特(Kunda Dixit)在博客上写道，“数万人失去住所，急需医疗救助。”
“Helicopters found village after village in remote Himalayan valleys completely flattened by the quake,” Kunda Dixit, editor of the Nepali Times, wrote on a blog. “Tens of thousands of people are without shelter and in urgent need of medical attention.”
警方表示，逾900名死难者是在加德满都或加德满都附近遇难的。警方眼下正等待挖掘设备到达，以便开始挖开瓦砾，希望能找到更多幸存者。
More than 900 of the deaths have occurred in or near Kathmandu, according to police, who are waiting for earthmoving equipment to arrive so they can begin digging in the rubble in the hope of finding more survivors.
尼泊尔全境内有数千人受伤，联合国开发计划署(UN Development Programme)估计，该国境内逾40%的土地都受到了地震影响。尼泊尔2800万人口中有约660万人在地震带上生活。
Thousands have been injured across Nepal and the UN Development Programme estimates more than 40 per cent of the country’s land mass has been affected. About 6.6m of Nepal’s 28m people live in the earthquake zone. Binod Bhattarai and Victor Mallet in Kathmandu and Amy Kazmin in Delhi