A 10-member team of specialists will leave today for Nepal, accompanying the first consignment of relief aid from Bahrain weighing more than 7,000kg.

They are part of the rescue team under the Royal Charity Organisation (RCO) that is spearheading a nationwide aid drive for survivors of the deadly earthquake in Nepal, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

The death toll from the 7.8-magnitude quake on April 25 has risen above 7,000 with close to 15,000 injured and the fate of thousands of people in remote areas still unknown.

Around eight million people are estimated by the United Nations to have been affected by the natural disaster.

"The first batch of aid weighs over 7,000kg - that includes 600 litres of cooking oil, food products and blankets," said RCO secretary-general Dr Mustafa Al Sayed.

"These were collected through the donation drop boxes at the different Lulu hypermarkets in Bahrain."

A chartered flight carrying the tonnes of food and medical aid will fly out today from Bahrain with the rescue team onboard.

Dr Al Sayed, who is the chairman of the Bahrain-Nepal Support Committee formed last week following directives from His Majesty King Hamad, said they received an overwhelming response from the public.

He added more than BD8,000 in cash was collected from different associations, groups and individuals in Bahrain, which was deposited in bank accounts set up as part of the aid support.

He said tents, mattresses, water purifiers and other items along with a list of medications will be delivered from Bahrain.

Dr Al Sayed, who will be travelling with the team of Bahrainis today, said they will be spending a few days in Kathmandu.

"We have volunteers from the Art of Living (Bahrain chapter) who are on the ground and aware of the assistance required," he added.

"Our aid team will work with these volunteers and set up the Bahrain Camp for Survivors, where 200 tents will be put up to provide shelter for families."

He said the Bahrain rescue team that will work in Kathmandu includes medics and evacuation experts headed by Shaikh Isa bin Abdulla Al Khalifa. A second consignment of aid is expected to be delivered in the coming weeks.

The GDN reported last week that at least four Nepalese nationals living in Bahrain lost family members in the country's worst earthquake in decades.

One of them, Dil Bahadur Tamang, lost his six-year-old son and father-in-law in the earthquake, which wrecked houses, flattened centuries-old temples and triggered avalanches on Mount Everest.

Bahrain's Foreign Affairs Ministry had said there were 78 Bahraini citizens and residents trapped in Nepal, but there were no casualties.

The RCO has also paid the expenses for a team of Bahrain-based Nepali engineers who left over the weekend to help their countrymen with rescue efforts.

"The response from the public to our call for aid has been overwhelming and this is the first consignment that is going," said Bahrain's Ambassador to India Tariq Bin Daina.

"We urge people to continue their donations. The money received will be used by the RCO to help rebuild homes, schools and medical centres in Nepal when the initial rescue and rehabilitation is over. We are in this till the end with the Nepali people." - TradeArabia News Service