SYDNEY, Apr 26 : Asian countries were scrambling on Sunday to locate thousands of their nationals stranded in Nepal after a huge earthquake devastated the Himalayan nation, severing communications and transport links.
China said it is chartering flights to pick up 683 tourists that were in the country when a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit near Kathmandu on Saturday , reducing parts of the capital to rubble in the worst disaster to hit the country in more than 80 years.
Australia's Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said her government had contacted more than 200 of the 549 Australians in the South Asian nation, while New Zealand's Foreign Minister Murray McCully said more than 110 nationals had been accounted for.
Japan's foreign ministry said it has set up a liaison office to help locate the 1,100 of its nationals who were staying in Nepal when the quake hit, Jiji news agency reported.
Modi has called a review meeting to take stock of the relief and rescue operations in the aftermath of the quake.    ?AGENCIES