UN aid chief to assess relief effort in Nepal

UN aid chief Valerie Amos is traveling to Nepal on Thursday for a first-hand look at relief efforts following a powerful earthquake that killed more than 5,000 people.

Amos will spend three days in Nepal to "show solidarity with the Nepalese people, raise the visibility of the crisis and assess the response operations," UN spokesman Farhan Haq said Tuesday.

Hundreds of people remain unaccounted for in the wake of the 7.8-magnitude quake that hit on Saturday, with many feared trapped in collapsed houses in Kathmandu, the spokesman said.

A UN team has been sent to Kathmandu to help coordinate relief efforts, he added.