INVESTIGATIONS are continuing into whether a Briton was among the thousands killed by the massive earthquake in Nepal, as the Government announced it is donating a further £5 million to help relief efforts.
The British public has been urged to do what they can to help in the wake of Saturday's 7.8 magnitude quake, with a televised appeal reminding people of the sacrifices made by Nepalese Gurkha soldiers as part of the British Army in decades past.
Eight million people have been affected, according to the United Nations, by a disaster which wiped out entire villages and has so far claimed the lives of more than 5,000 people.
British aid to Nepal now totals £15 million, with today's additional package including a team of medics, and heavy lifting equipment to help ensure supplies reach the areas where they are most needed.
International Development Secretary Justine Greening said: "We are boosting the British humanitarian effort by deploying more medics to treat the injured and delivering supplies that will help get aid through, including heavy lifting equipment to ensure supplies at Kathmandu airport can reach those in need."
Aid has already been deployed to Nepal in the form of 60 British personnel, search and rescue teams and other experts who are on the ground providing help.
Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said the Foreign Office is continuing to work to help identify and help British nationals in the region.
"Foreign and Commonwealth Office staff are continuing to work round the clock to identify and assist British nationals in Nepal.
"We are urgently investigating unconfirmed reports of a non-UK resident British national having been killed and our teams on the ground will report back as soon as they have any further information on that."
Mr Hammond said a RAF C-17 carrying a team of Gurkha engineers and a chartered Boeing 767 carrying rescue teams and supplies were awaiting landing slots at Kathmandu airport.
In a televised appeal on behalf of the Disasters Emergency Committee actress and Gurkha campaigner Joanna Lumley said: "My father served with the Gurkhas, who for 200 years have sacrificed their lives for Britain. Now it's our turn to help their country.
"The Nepalese are a proud and resourceful people, who don't ask for much. But now many hundreds and thousands of them desperately need our support."
She said that while the quake may have lasted little over a minute its devastating impact will be felt for years, adding that 2,000 years of history had been " razed to the ground in minutes".
Nepal's prime minister Sushil Koirala has said the death toll could eventually double.
A medical student from a British university was among those killed in avalanches on Everest.
The University of Leicester confirmed that American Dr Marisa Eve Girawong had been part-way through studies on its postgraduate mountain medicine course when she died at the peak's base camp in ice-falls triggered by the earthquake.
Dr Girawong, known as Eve, was with the Seattle-based Madison Mountaineering team when disaster struck.
Dr Peter Barry, from the university's infection, immunity and inflammation department, described her as "a beautiful, intelligent, outgoing person who effortlessly got on with everyone".
A number of families of British and Irish people are still awaiting news of their loved ones who may have been in the region at the time.
Dev Ratna Dhakhwa, secretary general of the Nepal Red Cross Society, said Sherpas would be needed to help reach remote areas where survivors may be cut off.
Members of the Nepalese and Gurkha community in the UK have spoken of their sense of helplessness at watching the "heart-wrenching" images on television.
More than 11,000 ex-Gurkhas have settled in the UK, many around the army town of Aldershot in Hampshire, and the entire community is focused on contacting relatives back home and providing what support they can.
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.
"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 UK has already pledged a £5 million package of support, including £3 million released under the Rapid Response Facility to address immediate needs on the ground and £2 million to the British Red Cross.
Disaster experts believe the earthquake will leave Nepal dependent on aid from countries such as the UK for years, and recovery from the devastation could take a decade.
Donations can be made to the DEC Nepal Earthquake Appeal at dec.org.uk, or by calling a 24 hour donation line on 0370 60 60 900.
Anyone who is caught up in the incident or worried about a family member should call the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on 020 7008 0000.
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