Even as search and rescue operations continued in the mountainous Jajarkot district in western Nepal hit by a powerful 6.4 magnitude earthquake on Friday night, authorities shifted scores of injured persons to multiple hospitals in the foothills and some of them may be airlifted to India.

At least 143 people were killed and over 150 others injured when the Friday night earthquake, the worst since 2015, struck western Nepal’s remote areas destroying hundreds of houses in the Himalayan country.

The epicentre was in Jajarkot district, about 500km northwest of Kathmandu. Nepalgunj, which is at the Himalayan foothills, close to the India-Nepal border, is nearer to the quake-affected region as compared to Kathmandu.

Around 30 injured persons, including children, were brought to Bheri Hospital here from the quake-affected areas. This is the nearest big hospital to Jajarkot. Scores of near and dear ones of the injured made a beeline outside the emergency department of the Bheri hospital.

A round of the emergency and general wards of the hospital by PTI showed that several injured had fractured hands or legs.

The doctors and the health care professionals had a hectic time attending to the injured brought to the hospital as the emergency ward ran full of injured. “Of those brought in here, one elderly person succumbed and two are critical,” nodal officer and cardiac Dr Vipin Acharya told PTI.

The doctors are on continuous alert as more injured persons are expected. “There are many kids also who were injured and are under treatment. We have a team of specialist doctors here that is taking care of these patients. We are on standby as some more injured people can be brought here,” he said.

Meanwhile, Prashant Bishta, the local mayor, who was also present at the hospital, said his team had reached here to help the families and relatives of those injured in the earthquake.

The mayor also said that some of the injured were referred to Surkhet. “The quake affected a whole lot of remote villages. It is difficult to reach here so soon and hence we are expecting more injured may be brought here tomorrow. Our local administration is helping the hospital to deal with the situation and help the injured,” he said.

“As and when we get more people, some may be referred to Kathmandu and some even to Lucknow (in India) so that just one hospital is not overloaded with patients. We are planning to airlift them,” he said.

Soon after the quake, the Nepal Army mobilised its personnel to carry out rescue works and through Saturday army personnel and other rescue workers dug through the rubble of collapsed houses to find survivors. The Jajarkot and Rukum districts of western Nepal were worst hit by the quake.

Meanwhile, seven people injured in the earthquake in Jajarkot district have been transported to Kathmandu from Chaurjahari for further medical treatment.

The Nepalese media reported that seven injured people were transported to Kathmandu by air and are now under treatment at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital.

Vice-Chancellor of the National Academy of Medical Sciences Prof Dr Bhupendra Kumar Basnet said that the emergency, operation theatre, and ICU have been kept ready at the Bir Hospital and at the National Trauma Centre.

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