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Photo taken on April 25, 2015 shows collapsed buildings after an earthquake in Kathmandu, capital of Nepal. Death toll in Nepal climbed to 711, the country's Home Ministry said Saturday afternoon, hours after a major earthquake struck the country. (Xinhua)
BEIJING, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Xinhua became the first international news agency to have reported a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struke somewhere less than 60 km from Nepal's capital, Kathmandu at 11:45 am local time (0600 GMT) on Saturday.
According to a senior official with the country's Home Ministry, the death toll had reached at least 711.
Zhou Shengping, chief correspondent of the Xinhua Bureau in Nepal, along with seven local employees, rushed to ground zero to cover the disaster.
In the meantime, Xinhua has also launched an emergent reporting scheme, sending multiple teams from different areas to Nepal.
Wu Qiang, chief correspondent in New Delhi, and Zhao Yi, chief correspondent in Kabul, have headed to Kathmandu with equipment of marisat systems.
Xinhua has also dispatched an reinforcement team of reporters Zhang Ning, Xu Yanyan and Qin Qing, together with engineer Wang Xiaowei, who had been covering the Asian-African Summit in Indonesia to Nepal, with live broadcasting equipment.
In addition, Bai Yang, Xinhua reporter from Xinhua headquarters in Beijing, would fly to Nepal along with Chinese rescue teams.
The great earthquake has also violently jolted China's Tibet Autonomous Region and surrounding areass.
Strong tremors were felt in the city of Shigatse and Lhasa, capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region.
Xinhua's Tibet Bureau has sent three teams of reporters and technical staffs to quake-hit areas.
