Riot police intervene as anger erupts among Nepal earthquake survivors

Clashes between police and desperate earthquake survivors broke out in Kathmandu on Wednesday as tempers frayed in the wake of a deadly earthquake that took more than 5,000 lives.

Frustration over the slow pace of the aid operation has been building on the streets of Nepal’s capital, where tens of thousands of people are sleeping rough in 16 makeshift refugee camps following the 7.8 magnitude quake.

Scuffles broke out at the city’s main bus station on Wednesday morning after thousands of people swarmed there hoping to board vehicles back to their rural homes. When they were unable to travel, rioters armed with sticks surged into the street, attacking vehicles, according to Reuters.

• 'Where is our government?' ask survivors of Nepal earthquake

On Wednesday afternoon furious passengers who were still trying to escape Nepal’s devastated capital surrounded The Telegraph at the bus station.

“We don’t want to die here in the earthquake if anything happens. We just want to get out of this valley now,” shouted Dependra Sharma, 26, who returned home to Nepal recently after five years living in London where he studied at a college in Hammersmith.
“It is risky here in Kathmandu,” Mr Sharma added, referring to the powerful aftershocks from Saturday’s earthquake. “You can see the dead bodies, stinking. There is no water for the people. There is no electricity. There is nothing at all. The people, they may die of hunger. Nothing has come to the common people.”
Sandesh Sharma, 17, said he was also disgusted at Nepal’s response. “The government is doing nothing. They are just speaking the words.”
Around them stood riot police wearing helmets and clutching bamboo canes.
Similar complaints could be heard across Kathmandu. “The ministers are not coming here or anything. They don't care,” said Janak Karki, a 19-year-old student who was watching rescue workers extract his father’s putrefying corpse from beneath a collapsed hotel.
Rajesh Bhandbari, 32, a Nepalese singer whose uncle died in the earthquake, said: “This is one of the most affected parts of Kathmandu, but we are not seeing the help we expected yet.”
“Our ministers are safe in their residences. There is no sign of them,” he added. “We have got so much donation from outside countries. They help us. But we have not got one rupee from the Nepalese government.”
Ramesh Oli, a 30-year-old shopkeeper at Kathmandu’s bus station, said there were similar outbreaks of violence throughout Tuesday.
“They started throwing stones,” he said of those crowds. “The police came and started hitting the people with sticks to disperse the mob. The bus yard was full of people. Many, many.”
Sanu Ram Bhattarai, a Kathmandu police chief, said the situation was “under control”. “[There was] no riot, no riot. It was only a few people demanding vehicles,” he told The Telegraph. “The security situation is OK.”
Night patrols were being conducted to protect empty houses that had been abandoned by owners too scared to remain indoors, the police chief added.
Nepal’s government accepted mistakes had been made. “There have been some weaknesses in managing the relief operation,” Minendra Rijal, the Communication Minister, told Nepal’s Kantipur Television.“The disaster has been so huge and unprecedented that we have not been in a position to meet the expectations of the needy people. But we are ready to accept our weakness, learn and move ahead in the best way possible.”
Such apologies did little to impress Kathmandu’s homeless masses as they prepared to bed down for a fifth night on the streets.
“They are so careless our government,” said Rajesh Bhandbari, the musician who lost his uncle. “So many people came from all over the world to help but our government couldn’t care less.”