60 pc of quake dead fall in working age group

KATHMANDU, May 2: Over 60 percent of those killed in the devastating earthquake on Saturday fall in the 15-60 working age group. The Nepal Police has collected the details of 1,001 of the total 1,288 deceased till Wednesday evening. It shows 61 percent of the dead belong to the working age group, while most of them were the sole bread winners of their families.

In Kathmandu district, 425 out of 614 deceased belong to this age group, while 299 were between the ages of 20-50. The report is based on the death toll confirmed so far.In Lalitpur, 67 of the 152 dead belonged to 15-60 age group, while 43 of them were in the 20-50 age group. Similar is the scenario in Bhaktapur with 123 of 235 dead in the age group of 15-60 and 92 in the 20- 50 age group.

While the deaths of persons in the working age group is on the rise, sociologists state that the result is shocking as death of "bread earners" brings bigger loss to the family.

"If you lose a child or an elderly, you suffer emotionally. However, when a family loses its bread earner, the family faces multiple problems," said sociologist Suresh Dhakal.

While security agencies involved in rescue work assume that the toll might reach higher, death of active members of society would cause demographic imbalance, especially when the country is already facing a dearth of youths. "If a similar scenario is reflected in other districts, it can really be a serious problem," added Dhakal.

The total death toll from the earthquake so far has reached 1144 in Kathmandu, 269 in Bhaktapur and 171 in Lalitpur, according to the police.

Related story

Advisory task force recommends keeping marriage age at 18