Singapore deploys largest overseas relief team to quake-hit Nepal

Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean on Sunday said 126 officers from the Home Team Academy -- the largest overseas relief team -- are focusing their efforts in Gorkha district of quake-hit Nepal.

Teo posted on Facebook that an additional 30 officers would reach Nepal on Sunday with more relief supplies, Xinhua reported.

The Home Team Academy is the training institute for various organisations of the ministry of home affairs here.

The contingent, now, consists of 60 officers from the Singapore Civil Defence Force and 66 officers from the Singapore Police Force.

Teo said that the contingent is working out of Pokhara, Nepal's second largest city, to reach Gorkha district by helicopter.

Gorkha is close to the epicentre of the earthquake, which occurred between Pokhara and Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. Road connectivity has been damaged there.

The toll from the powerful earthquake in Nepal on April 25 has climbed to over 7,000 on Sunday, while over 14,100 people have been injured.

Nepal's tourism industry has also been severely hit as at least 14 historic buildings have been destroyed or severely damaged.