A Canadian forces pilot for a CC-17 Globemaster checks the airplane prior to loading at CFB Trenton in Trenton, Ont., on Sunday April 26, 2015. Canada is dispatching advance elements of its highly specialized disaster assistance response team to earthquake-ravaged Nepal. A military transport plane is expected to arrive on Wednesday morning with equipment, medical personnel and members of the military’s Disaster Assistance and Response Team. The plane will have room to carry up to 100 Canadians to neighbouring India, Ottawa says, where they can get commercial flights.Lars Hagberg/The Canadian Press
Government officials hope to fly stranded Canadians out of Nepal by military plane on Wednesday after unloading supplies to help deliver aid in the earthquake-battered country, where workers are struggling to reach remote areas.
A team of nine Canadian consular officials set up operations in Kathmandu on Tuesday, and a military transport plane is expected to arrive on Wednesday morning with equipment, medical personnel and members of the military's Disaster Assistance and Response Team. The plane will have room to carry up to 100 Canadians to neighbouring India, Ottawa says, where they can get commercial flights.
A second transport plane is due to arrive on Thursday. About 200 additional military personnel are on standby to go to Nepal if they are needed, including engineers, security and medical personnel, the government said.
On Tuesday in Nepal, helicopters ferried injured survivors from remote villages to the small town of Gorkha, an administrative and trading centre that is being used as a staging post to bring rescuers and supplies to remote communities. Efforts are hindered by poor infrastructure and roads that were heavily damaged by the earthquake.
The 7.8 magnitude quake shook the capital Kathmandu and the surrounding region on Saturday, killing at least 4,600 people and leaving many others without access to clean water or shelter. The United Nations said on Tuesday that some 1.4 million people need food.
The Canadian Red Cross said on Tuesday that it is sending a mobile pediatric hospital, and medical and support personnel to Nepal. Conrad Sauvé, chief executive officer of the Canadian Red Cross, said the international response to the disaster is still in the emergency phase, when it is important to reach people in need of help as quickly as possible.
"We're in the difficult period now, in the days following a disaster," Mr. Sauvé said in an interview, "where not everybody is being reached and the communications are not in place, and not everything can come into the country at the same time."
Jess Dutton, Canada's acting high commissioner for India, told reporters on Tuesday that officials in Nepal have warned the death toll could reach nearly 10,000 people once rescue workers reach more remote areas. "Water, food, electricity and fuel are all scarce, and there is extensive damage to roads, communications and general infrastructure," he said.
So far, no Canadian deaths have been reported, Mr. Dutton said. Another official said some Canadians have been injured, but the government has not received reports of major or complex medical cases.
Ottawa has faced criticism in recent days that it failed to provide enough support to Canadians, with some saying they were forced to seek help from the U.S. embassy. Several people reported being turned away from Canada's consulate.
It took days for Canadian officials to reach Nepal, largely because the country's only airport was damaged and congested. One flight carrying consular officials touched down twice at the Kathmandu airport before going back to Delhi.
Canada does not have an embassy in Nepal. Its honorary-consul, Nepalese doctor Buddha Basnyat, is a specialist in high-altitude medicine who works part-time for the Canadian government. Ottawa says Dr. Basnyat is reaching out to Canadians believed to be in the region.
Stewart Beck, Canada's former ambassador to India and Nepal, said a lot of thought went into Ottawa's choice of consul, including the fact that Dr. Basnyat's medical expertise overlaps with the kinds of problems Canadian travellers might experience.
"Our typical consular cases are trekkers who get stuck on mountains [or] have altitude sickness – they need help from that perspective," Mr. Beck said. "It's usually medical."
On Tuesday, Canadian officials established a consular service centre at the Phora Durbar American Club in central Kathmandu, with phones, showers, food and internet. Another five consular staff are expected to arrive in the capital in the coming days.
The transport plane that is due to land in Kathmandu on Wednesday could face delays depending on how congested the airport is, government officials say. Once it lands, it will take about five to six hours to unload and prepare it for Canadian passengers who will be flown to Delhi. Consular officials in Delhi will help them find hotels and flights, officials said.
With reports from the Associated Press