Deployment update:
According to the UN, the death toll from the April 25 earthquake now stands at 5,006 with an additional 10,194 people injured. An estimated 8 million people remain affected across 39 of Nepal’s 75 districts. Authorities expect these figures to rise as rescue efforts continue.
Today, members of USAID’s 128-person Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) reached hard-hit BHAKTAPUR, a city east of Kathmandu. There, the DART’s urban search-and-rescue team worked closely with the Nepali army and members of the community to determine where people might be trapped and to conduct searches.
The DART team is made up of 15 USAID disaster experts, a 57-person urban search and rescue (USAR) team from Los Angeles County (including 6 Canine Teams trained by the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation) and a 57-person USAR team from Fairfax, VA (which also includes 6 Canine Teams).