Nepal earthquake: More RAF Chinooks to arrive in Nepal

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-32562747

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Two further RAF Chinook helicopters are due to arrive in quake-hit Nepal later as relief efforts enter a second week.

More than 6,000 people, including one Briton, have been killed in the worst earthquake to hit the country in 80 years.

The CH47 Chinooks will follow one that arrived in Nepal from RAF Brize Norton on Friday.

The helicopters are in addition to the £2.5m donated by the UK to the UN's Humanitarian Air Service.

'High performance helicopter'

The CH47 Chinook aircraft and their crew, from 27 Squadron at RAF Odiham in Hampshire, are transported to RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire where they are then dispatched to Nepal in an Antonov freighter aircraft.

The second Chinook has left and a third is being packed up to be sent later.

RAF Odiham commanding officer, Group Captain Richard Maddison, said: "The Chinook is a very high performance helicopter with a large cabin, which means we can carry a lot of people and a lot of aid.

"We are extremely suited to high altitude and to high temperatures we find in Nepal, and we can get to positions you simply can't get to by road."

Nepal has called for more foreign help, particularly aircraft, as survivors grow desperate for humanitarian aid.

The Foreign Office confirmed that British dual national Hemchandra Rai, 42, was killed in the disaster.

The married father of three lived in Hong Kong.

Reports of another British victim killed at Mount Everest base camp are still being investigated.

At least 14,000 people have been injured.