All 152 Spaniards in Nepal accounted for after new quake, says government

The Spanish government has said it has located all 152 Spaniards in Nepal safe and sound after a new earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale hit the country on Tuesday.

“We have no tragedies to mourn, thank God,” said Foreign Minister José Manuel García-Margallo after the new quake struck.

The country is still struggling to deal with the effects of the powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake of April 25, which left over 8,000 dead.

Let’s hope the same thing does not happen again, and that we do not receive any sad news over the [new] earthquake”

Foreign Minister José Manuel García-Margallo

The minister, who was in India at the time of the first earthquake and personally led the evacuation of more than 100 Spaniards, said he had called the ambassador in New Delhi to learn about the situation of the Spanish citizens in Nepal.

Ambassador Gustavo de Arístegui contacted Spanish government workers currently in Kathmandu, who in turn got in touch with the Spanish nationals. According to their information, all 152 of them, including 40 in Pokhara, the area closest to the epicenter of the new tremor, have “nothing new to report.”

Meanwhile, the Spanish government has called off the search and rescue mission for six Spaniards who went missing in the Langtang Valley, a popular trekking area, after the April 25 quake.

“The hope of finding them alive has died out,” said García-Margallo in a press conference at the weekend, adding that workers will remain in Nepal to help repatriate any bodies that are found.

One worker from the Spanish embassy in New Delhi is stationed in Kathmandu, as well as a police chief and three members of the scientific police who are there to help identify the bodies. The foreign minister said more personnel would be sent over if need be.

“Let’s hope the same thing does not happen again, and that we do not receive any sad news over the [new] earthquake,” he told reporters on Tuesday morning.