Gurkhas Arrive In Nepal To Help Quake Relief Effort

A team of Gurkhas has arrived in Nepal on an RAF flight to help the relief and rescue effort following the devastation caused by the earthquake.It comes as hundreds of Gurkhas are due to march in London today to remember those who have sacrificed their lives for Britain over the last 200 years.

It will be a particularly poignant as the death toll continues to rise in their homeland Nepal following the deadly earthquake.

More than 11,000 ex-Gurkhas have settled in the UK, with many speaking of their sense of helplessness at the situation in Nepal.

Captain Gary Ghale, 60, formerly of the 6th Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles, said communication with people in villages such as his native Gorkha was proving very difficult.

Aid supplies are offloaded off the flight

 

"To see all these heart-wrenching pictures, I am just praying, just praying for the safety of the people of Nepal and that help reaches people in time and there is proper sanitisation because the aftermath can kill more people than the earthquake itself," he said.
The 3,000-strong Brigade of Gurkhas is part of the British Army made up of Nepalese soldiers. It draws its heritage from Gurkha units that originally served in the British Indian Army prior to Indian independence