Candlelights recreate historic tower destroyed by Nepal earthquake
Thousands gathered in Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal, on Monday to mark one year since a devastating earthquake rattled the country.
Candles filled Kathmandu's Durbar Square as mourners arranged the flickering lights in the shape of the city's famed Dharahara tower, destroyed in the 2015 quake.
Nearly 9,000 people died when the 7.8 magnitude earthquake shook huge swathes of the country, destroying hundreds of historic landmarks and homes. More than 22,000 people were injured and 770,000 families were left homeless.
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A year later, few homes and historic sites have been rebuilt.
Nepal's Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli pledged to begin efforts to rebuild four historic sites that were damaged or destroyed last year, including the old palaces and temples at Kathmandu's Durbar Square.
Despite pledges of $4.1 billion from the international community to rebuild homes and heritage sites, the country has not yet begun the large-scale process.
Aid groups have demanded that authorities speed up the work and change some of the laws that have become obstacles.
The prime minister said the work would progress swiftly, adding it was a huge task that would require time. He also said construction of private houses have been initiated in 10 districts to mark the anniversary.
According to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, an estimated 4 million people are still living in sub-standard temporary shelters in conditions that pose a threat to their health and well-being. Only 661 families have received the first installment of a 200,000-rupee ($1,868) government grant, getting 50,000 rupees ($467) so far.
As a result, thousands of people are still living in out in the open in makeshift shelters.
Out of the $4.1 billion pledged, Nepal has so far received just $1.28 billion. The delay in getting the money has been blamed on the government taking months to set up the National Reconstruction Authority, which was done only in December.
Additional information from the Associated Press.
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Megan Specia was Mashable's Assistant Real-Time News Editor and joined the team in September 2014. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism & Mass Communications from the University of New Hampshire after growing up in the Jersey 'burbs. She made her way to New York via a four year stopover in Dublin. Megan previously worked as a journalist and editor at Storyful in both Dublin and New York. Before all of that, though, her claim to fame was as head cake arranger and purveyor of all things sweet at Queen of Tarts cafe in Dublin, where she developed a serious addiction to macarons.
