Grieving: a Nepalese man and woman hold each other at UNESCO world heritage site in Kathmandu

Nepal rescuers battled landslide debris and communication blackouts Sunday as they frantically searched for survivors of a huge quake that killed at least 1,800 people and unleashed a deadly avalanche at Everest base camp.

Residents of the devastated capital Kathmandu were woken by fresh aftershocks, with many forced to spend the night trying to sleep out on the streets and open ground in makeshift tents.

Offers of help poured in from governments around the world, with the United States and European Union announcing they were sending in disaster response teams. India was flying out its stranded citizens in military planes.

Home ministry spokesman Laxmi Prasad Dhakal told AFP that 1,805 were reported dead, with at least 4,718 injured. But the overall toll was expected to be much higher, and at least 47 people have died in neighbouring India.

“We are using all our resources for rescue and to help the displaced,” Rameshwor Dangal, who heads Nepal’s Himalayan nation’s National Disaster Management Division, told AFP.

Chinese state media said 17 people had also been killed in Tibet as Beijing sent a team of 62 rescuers, accompanied by sniffer dogs, to help the hard-pressed emergency workers in Nepal.

A collapsed building in Kathmandu

The county’s cell phone network was working only sporadically, while large parts of the capital were without electricity.

AFP correspondents in Kathmandu reported that tremors were felt throughout the night, including one strong aftershock at dawn.

“It has been a sleepless night, how can we sleep? It has been shaking all night. We are just praying that this will end and we can return home,” said Nina Shrestha, a 34-year-old banker who spent the night with hundreds of people on open ground in the capital’s Tudhikhel district.

As rescuers sifted through the huge mounds of rubble, the hospitals were overflowing with victims who suffered multiple fractures and trauma.

“I must have brought over 35 people to the hospital yesterday,” rickshaw driver Dibesh Gautam told AFP. “I have been working since 5:30 in the morning. I am scared too, but we have to do what we can to help others.”

The 7.8 magnitude quake brought hundreds of buildings, including office blocks and a landmark nine-storey tower, crashing to the ground at around midday on Saturday.

Families grabbed whatever possessions they could muster and sought shelter on the streets, many of which had been split asunder.

Weather forecasters warned that rain was on the way, with dark clouds looming over Kathmandu that promised more misery for displaced survivors.