Officials expect the number of fatalities to increase as rescue crews

Officials expect the number of fatalities to increase as rescue crews search for survivors from the countrys worst natural disaster in more than 80 years. The United States, India, Israel, Pakistan and other governments have sent emergency supplies and personnel such as doctors to Nepal. The Red Cross has 1,500 volunteers and 300 staff on the ground providing basic first-aid and other support. On Monday, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies issued an appeal to raise 33.5 million Swiss francs ($35.2 million) to provide emergency assistance. This earthquake was the worst to hit the South Asian nation in over 80 years. It destroyed swaths of the oldest neighborhoods of Kathmandu, and was strong enough to be felt all across parts of India, Bangladesh, Chinas region of Tibet and Pakistan. But outside of the oldest neighborhoods, many in Kathmandu were surprised by how few modern structures — the city is largely a collection of small, poorly constructed brick apartment buildings — collapsed in the quake. While aid workers cautioned that many buildings could have sustained serious structural damage, it was also clear that the death toll would have been far higher had more buildings caved in. It destroyed swaths of the oldest neighborhoods of Kathmandu, and was strong enough to be felt all across parts of India, Bangladesh, Chinas region of Tibet and Pakistan. Flames rise from burning funeral pyres during the cremation of victims of Saturdays earthquake, at the Pashupatinath temple on the banks of Bagmati river, in Kathmandu on Sunday. The body of one of the victims of the earthquake that hit Nepal yesterday lays on the floor ready for cremation in Bhaktapur, Nepal on Sunday. Nepalese residents mourn the death of a relative following an earthquake, at a mass cremation in Kathmandu on Sunday. A woman mourns the death of a family member in Bhaktapur on Sunday. Rescuers dug with their bare hands and bodies piled up in Nepal on Sunday after the earthquake devastated the heavily crowded Kathmandu valley.