NDRF Chief O P Singh rushes to Nepal; teams deployed

NEW DELHI: NDRF Chief O P Singh today rushed to Nepal in order to coordinate operations of the Indian rescue forces and local authorities in the quake-hit country.

Singh will be joining the seven National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams which have already landed in Kathmandu.

They have been deployed in areas of Lalitpur, Bhagatpur and valley division which is about 10 kms from the national capital, a senior official said here.

Each NDRF team has about 45 personnel. "I will be meeting the Nepalese officials to setup the command control room in the country so that our operations gain momentum quickly," Singh told PTI before taking a commercial flight to the quake-hit country.

"Another three teams of the NDRF will reach Nepal by this evening as the government had earmarked a total of ten teams to be sent to Nepal," the official said, adding the NDRF has retrieved eight people alive and four bodies from the rubble till now.

A control room has also been established at the Kathmandu airport which will coordinate between NDRF, the Indian Air Force (IAF) and Nepalese authorities for conducting relief and rescue operations, the official said.