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Cape Town - After a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Nepal over the weekend, Kathmandu Airport has seen an influx of passengers - some hoping to escape and head back to their homes, others returning from far away to reunite with their families.
The earthquake, which happened on Saturday, has had devastating effects, including major loss of life (more than 4 400 so far) and the ruin of many UNESCO Heritage Sites.
Normally receiving about 40 flights per day, Mashable reports that the airport is now catering for about 80, including emergency relief crews who arrive without much prior notice.
READ: Did the Nepal earthquake change the height of Mount Everest
This has, of course, caused huge disruptions, delays and cancellations and many travellers have been sharing their frustration on social media.
Picture taken by director Kunal Deshmukh at the Kathmandu airport while waiting to come back...@kunal_deshmukh pic.twitter.com/NZ84sLoF96
— Priya Gupta (@priyaguptatimes) April 30, 2015
An initial project idea for @AIIB_AsianInfra : Modernizing #Kathmandu Airport pic.twitter.com/ksUlW4gx5k
— Olav Kjorven (@olavkjorven) April 30, 2015
Arrived in #Kathmandu. Airport is a mess. Dead of the night and a disaster relief team just arrived from UAE. pic.twitter.com/6ndZlfiyWd
— Shweta Bajaj (@ShwetaBajaj) April 29, 2015
Crowded #Kathmandu airport filled mostly with Nepalese coming home and #NepalEarthquakeRelief workers. pic.twitter.com/vKm1rLCxpo
— Water Missions Intl (@watermissions) April 29, 2015
The airport's deputy director, Tek Nath Sitaula, admitted to AsiaOne that chaos is currently reigning, but that the situation is getting better day by day.
