Nepal earthquake: Unaccounted Kiwis down to single digits

Photographer Carsten Lillelund Pedersen was able to take this image from Mount Everest base camp of the avalanche after an earthquake hit Nepal.

The number of New Zealanders unaccounted for in Nepal is down to single figures, Foreign Minister Murray McCully says.

"As you can expect, there's a lot of uncertainty and difficulty with communication so we'll keep working at it. We don't have reasons to have serious concerns for any individual.

"Some were clearly trekking and involved in pursuits that took them away from centres and away from telephones. There are some that we know weren't expecting to make contact with back home for some days yet."

Mr McCully said he had no information to suggest any New Zealanders were higher than Everest Base Camp.

He said the Government was working with Kiwis stuck in the country following Saturday's devastating earthquake."Quite frankly they [Nepalese authorities] are maxed out in terms of their capacity to get flights in and out at the moment," Mr McCully said.

A 37-strong New Zealand search and rescue team that was due to leave for earthquake-devastated Nepal last night has been stood down.

The New Zealand government had approved the deployment of an Urban Search and Rescue team (USAR) to Kathmandu and they were expected to fly out last night.

Mr McCully said prior to the team's departure the Nepalese Government informed New Zealand that they had enough USAR capability currently in Nepal.

"With the benefit of reflection they decided that they couldn't absorb more capacity right then. In fact, one of the big complications yesterday was the airport, it's hugely congested.

"We are aware of four flights from India carrying supplies that were turned around simply because they couldn't get down."

The USAR team could be sent in future if requested, and New Zealand was looking at other options such as medical teams, talking to countries including Australia and obviously Nepal, Mr McCully said.

NGOs working on the ground had benefited from $1 million in immediate aid from New Zealand, and that amount could increase in the coming weeks and months.