Nepal Residents, Tourists Queue at Airport to Leave

With Nepal's government overwhelmed by the scale of the disaster, India flew in medical supplies and relief crews, while China sent in a 60-strong emergency team. Relief agencies said hospitals in the Kathmandu Valley were overflowing and running out of medical supplies.

At the airport lines of people had formed, many desperate to catch a flight out as tremors continued to hit the country.

One tourist from the Czech republic said she had been waiting at the airport since Saturday.

"From yesterday 6PM, our flight was cancelled," said Jana Jezkoba, who decided to cut her trip short after the earthquake.

"We're expected like by 8PM, probably, we will be leaving this place," an unidentified Indian national said as she stood in the queue.

German tourist, Marco Boerner described what it was like when the quake hit.

"Yesterday, we've been on Dakshinkali, it's a temple south of Kathmandu. The earthquake was also quite strong there. Everything was shaking. All people got into panic," he said.

The 7.9 magnitude quake struck at midday on Saturday (April 25) at a busy time of year for the tourism-reliant country's trekking and climbing season, with an estimated 300,000 foreign tourists in the country, home to many World Heritage sites.

Police put the death toll in Nepal at 2,152, with 5,463 hurt. At least 700 were killed in the capital, a city of about 1 million people where many homes are old, poorly built and packed close together. (Reuters)