Nepal’s government said Sunday it has denied entry to three British military helicopters sent to help the earthquake relief effort because of fears they could damage buildings when landing.
A foreign ministry spokesman said the Chinook helicopters, which arrived in New Delhi last week en route to the quake-hit country, were too big to land.
“We have told the British authorities that they cannot fly their Chinook helicopters here because our technical team says they are likely to damage the houses and other buildings in the Kathmandu valley,” spokesman Tara Pokharel said.
“We are worried about broken windows and roofs being blown off by these big helicopters.”
The April 25 earthquake killed more than 8,000 people and left thousands more homeless and in desperate need of food, clean water and shelter.
