Scots raise £180k every day to help quake victims

The earthquake last month left more than 8,000 people dead. Picture: Getty

The 7.8-magnitude quake left more than 8,000 dead and affected millions of others when it struck on 25 April.

A massive relief operation was launched and the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) has sent aid to remote villages. A second earthquake hit the country on 12 May, killing 154 people.

Across the UK, £65m has been donated to the DEC’s Nepal earthquake appeal, with £5.4m raised in Scotland alone.

The money has provided shelter, food, blankets, clean water, medical aid and other essentials to 500,000 people. With the monsoon season due to begin next month, work on rebuilding permanent homes is to begin as quickly as possible.

The DEC, which is made up of 13 UK aid charities, said it is working in some of the worst-affected parts of the country.

Neil Mathers, chair of the earthquake appeal in Scotland, said: “We have been very moved by the extraordinary generosity of people in Scotland, and indeed throughout the UK.

“Their kindness, combined with the courage and tenacity of the Nepali people, have helped provide aid to over half a million people in just one month.

“This has been achieved even in many villages that were all but inaccessible even before the earthquake; despite Kathmandu’s small airport being completely overwhelmed; and regardless of the severe damage to Nepal’s already inadequate road network.”