A rare moment of joy in Nepal

Rescuers pulled a 15-year-old boy alive from the rubble of Nepal's earthquake yesterday, bringing a rare moment of joy to the ruined capital Kathmandu, five days after a disaster which killed nearly 6,000 people.

The rescue of Pemba Tamang, who told AFP that he stayed alive by eating ghee, was hailed as a miracle and greeted with cheers from crowds of bystanders who massed to watch the drama unfold at a ruined guesthouse.

But the recovery of another teenager's body from the same ruins only minutes later underlined how the prospects of finding further survivors of Saturday's 7.8-magnitude quake were becoming more remote.

Caked in dust, Pemba was fitted with a neck brace and hooked up to an intravenous drip before being lifted onto a stretcher and then raced to a field hospital where he was found to have only minor cuts and bruises.

A handout picture taken on Wednesday shows a Nepalese woman and child on rubble in the village of Sathighar, north of Katmandu, following the 7.8 magnitude earthquake which struck the Himalayan nation on April 25. The UN launched an appeal for Nepalese quake survivors in dire need of shelter, food and medical care yesterday as anger boiled at the government's inability to cope with a disaster that has killed more than 5,000 people. Photo: AFP

"I never thought I would make it out alive," the teenager told AFP at the Israeli military-run facility where he was being kept for observation.

Pemba, who worked at the guesthouse as a bellboy, said he had been eating lunch next to reception when the ground started shaking.

"I tried to run but... something fell on my head and I lost consciousness -- I've no idea for how long," he said.

"When I came round, I was trapped under the debris and there was total darkness," he added.

"I heard other people's voices screaming out for help around me ... but I felt helpless."

Asked if he had had anything to eat while he was trapped, Pemba said he had come across a jar of ghee (clarified butter) in the dark.

Libby Weiss, a spokeswoman at the Israeli field hospital, said Pemba was doing "remarkably well", confirming he did not have any major injuries.

"He was under the rubble for 120 hours and it is certainly the longest we have heard anybody of being under the rubble and surviving," she told AFP.

"I don't have any logical explanation. It is miraculous. It is a wonderful thing to see in all this destruction."

Launching an appeal for $415 million in aid, the UN said it would take a marathon effort to help the people of one of Asia's poorest countries.

The UN's World Health Organization said it had received reports that around 1,400 had been killed in the Sindhupalchowk region, a mountainous region northeast of Kathmandu which was becoming a major focus of international relief efforts.

Nepalese and Indian military helicopters have also been flying in aid to remote areas of Gorkha district, another badly-hit region, which otherwise takes up to 12 days to reach by foot, the WHO said.

The latest official toll put the number of dead at 5,844 and more than 10,000 are known to have been injured. More than 100 people were also killed in neighbouring countries such as India and China.