US Marines begin relief operations

US military aircraft, heavy equipment and air traffic controllers will start arriving in Nepal as part of an American relief operation following the devastating earthquake, a senior US officer said.

Brigadier General Paul Kennedy of the US Marine Corps told Reuters that the six military aircraft, including two helicopters, will arrive from Saturday, accompanied by 100 marines and lifting equipment under an agreement reached with Nepal's government earlier in the week.

The US military would help manage the growing piles of relief supplies clogging Nepal's only international airport in Kathmandu, which has struggled to distribute the aid arriving from around the world since the earthquake. "You don't want to build up a mountain of supplies," Kennedy said.

Kennedy's own flight was close to "a fuel emergency" because it had to spend some time circling over Kathmandu after a long flight from his base in Okinawa, Japan he said. "Nepal serves as the worst-case scenario for military planners," Kennedy said. "It is land-locked and there are very few useable airfields that will handle military-sized aircraft."

Kennedy did not say how extensive the US presence in Nepal would grow after the initial arrival of four vertical take-off Osprey aircraft, two Bell Hueys and equipment such as forklift trucks to help move relief supplies at the airport.

Soldiers carrying portable radars and including airstrip repair experts, will be sent to enable two provincial airports to receive heavy transport flights day and night. The airports being considered include one at trekking destination Pokhara and another near the birthplace of Buddha.