Lone survivor of family recounts horrific tale of Nepal earthquake

Twenty-year-old Mahendra escaped the powerful earthquake at the weekend with minor injuries, but lost everybody in his family.

He is the lone survivor in his family, losing his parents, elder sister, his nephew and brother.

Recuperating in a hospital in Kathmandu after he suffered leg injuries in the quake, Mahendra appears anguished.

"A big building collapsed. I was injured during the collapse. All members of my family have died. Yes, I am alone," said Mahendra.

The 7.8 magnitude earthquake led to the death of 5,582 till now, with almost 11,200 injured.

According to the United Nations, 6,00,000 houses have been destroyed or damaged.

It said eight million people have been affected, with at least two million in need of tents, water, food and medicines over the next three months.

In Kathmandu and other cities, hospitals quickly overflowed with injured soon after the quake, with many being treated out in the open or not at all.

"Our emergency department is overburdened from the beginning. The emergency department has the capacity of 60 beds. We have received 300-400 patients in two days-many are dead bodies. Most of have orthopaedic problems or head injuries," said Dr. Ved Pratap at Tribhuvan Medical University.