‘I hadn't eaten or had anything to drink so I drank my own urine’ – Nepal Victim

Rishi Khanal was destined to live as he was pulled out alive from the aftermath of earth-quake rubble in Nepal.

He said he survived by drinking his own urine after being buried by the earthquake that killed more than 5,000 people.

Rishi Khanal gave up all hope as his lips cracked and his nails turned white before he was extracted from the ruins of a collapsed hotel in Kathmandu by a French-Nepali team.

The 28-year-old, who spent three days trapped with dead bodies, is one of the thousands struggling to recover after Nepal's worst natural disaster for more than 80 years.

Mr Khanal, who will now undergo an operation to amputate his leg, said after being pulled out alive: "I was sure no one was coming for me. I was certain I was going to die."

"I kept banging against the rubble and finally someone responded and came to help. I hadn't eaten or had anything to drink so I drank my own urine. It feels good. I am so thankful."

A total of 5,006 people are known to have died in Nepal alone and nearly have been 9,600 injured.

One family laid 18 relatives to rest on Wednesday after the building they lived in collapsed in the quake.

"I don't know why this happened. But I don't blame anyone. I don't blame the government, I don't blame the gods," Shankar Pradhan said as he washed his daughter's feet for the cremation.

Prime Minister Sushil Koirala warned the death toll could reach 10,000 as remote mountain villages are reached.