The death toll from Saturday’s earthquake in Nepal has risen to nearly 5,500 people, officials said Thursday, as teams continued digging through rubble and aid groups worked to get much needed supplies to survivors.

Rescuers in the capital, Kathmandu, pulled a teenage boy from the remains of a building some five days after the magnitude-7.8 quake trapped him inside.  A crowd in the area cheered as rescue workers hurriedly carried the boy out on a stretcher toward a vehicle.

VOA correspondent Steve Herman visited the village of Majigaon, northeast of Kathmandu, where he said people are dealing with the destruction of every building along with the major loss of their livestock. He said they are also not getting much outside help.

“There has been scant and fleeting presence in this part of the country,” he said.  “We were told that a team of about five Singaporeans stopped by yesterday to give first aid.  They were here for less than 20 minutes, and that has been it so far here in this particular village on the banks of the Indrawati river.”

U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos was due to arrive in Nepal for a three-day visit to assess relief operations. 

The U.N. launched an urgent appeal Wednesday for $415 million dollars to provide shelter for 500,000 people who are sleeping out in the open, as well as medicine, water and food for millions affected by the earthquake.  It said the disaster destroyed 70,000 houses and damaged more than half a million others.

Also Wednesday, President Barack Obama discussed aid efforts in a telephone call with Nepal’s Prime Minister Sushil Koirala. The U.S. is providing more than $10 million for both immediate efforts such as clean water and search and rescue operations, and for long term recovery efforts.

Meanwhile, people in Nepal’s capital city of Kathmandu continued leaving Thursday by bus to reach their families in remote areas that were hardest hit by the magnitude-7.8 earthquake.

Many in Nepal have been frustrated by what they say is a slow response by the government.  Several hundred people protested Wednesday by blocking traffic in Kathmandu.

The International Committee of the Red Cross created a website for friends and family to report missing loved ones, or search for those who have checked in.
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