A Nepalese boy stands outside his village with a signboard asking for help in Pauwathok village, Sindhupalchok district, Nepal, Saturday, May 2, 2015.(Photo: Manish Swarup, AP)
Earthquake-hit Nepal shut its only international airport to large planes carrying relief and aid workers Sunday, because the runway cannot handle the traffic, the Associated Press reported.
Officials said medium and small aircraft will still be allowed to land at the airport in the capital of Kathmandu, according to the news agency.
Authorities on Sunday said the death toll has reached 7,040.
Over the weekend, 51 bodies were discovered in the Langtang Valley on a popular trekking route 35 miles north of Kathmandu, the AP reported. Those found included a French and an Indian national, and Nepalese guides, hotel owners, workers and porters, according to the agency.
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The news comes after United Nations humanitarian chief Valerie Amos told Agence France-Presse of her concerns that customs controls are slowing down the delivery of humanitarian aid to the country.
Some people in remote areas say that relief has yet to reach them, amid reports that aid is piling up at the Kathmandu airport, more than a week after the magnitude-7.8 earthquake struck on April 25.
Amos told the AFP that she raised the issue with Prime Minister Sushil Koirala on Saturday, reminding him that Nepal had signed an agreement with the UN in 2007 allowing simpler and faster customs clearance for aid.
"He has undertaken to ensure that happens, so I hope that from now we will see an improvement in those administrative issues," Amos told the news agency.
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On Saturday, a convoy of trucks apparently carrying aid approached the small village of Pauwathok, which lies 30 miles east of Kathmandu 3,600 feet above sea level. Hungry residents ran toward the road, but the trucks did not stop, the AP reported.
Nepal lifted import taxes on tarpaulins and tents Friday but home ministry spokesman Laxmi Prasad Dhakal said all goods coming in from outside the country had to be inspected, the BBC reported.
"This is something we need to do," he said, according to the broadcaster.
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