Kathmandu: Australians stranded in Nepal following Saturday's devastating earthquake will be airlifted out by the Defence Force as aid agencies warn of deteriorating conditions in some affected parts of the country.
The Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop said the Government plans to deploy ADF aircraft to assist Australians fly from the Nepal capital, Kathmandu, to Bangkok.
"Highly vulnerable Australians will be given priority," she said.
The international airport in Kathmandu is open, although some scheduled flights have been affected and there are lengthy delays. Ms Bishop encouraged Australians to leave Nepal on a commercial flight if they could.
The timing and frequency of the ADF flights will be subject to capacity constraints at Kathmandu airport and approval by the Nepalese Government.
"Once details of the military flights are known, DFAT will advise of the process for Australians to register their interest," Ms Bishop said.
Australia will also send additional humanitarian experts to Kathmandu, including medical personnel to assist health coordination and needs assessments in the wake of the earthquake. A DFAT disaster expert will also join the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination team.
International search and rescue specialists arriving in Nepal are hopeful they can still find survivors buried beneath rubble.
The emergency response is gearing up with expert teams from Britain, Germany and China arriving in Kathmandu on Monday night to join other international humanitarian workers.
Gary Francis, the team leader of a British crew from Search and Rescue Specialists in Disaster, said the response was "definitely still in the search and rescue phase.
"We've been able to get here in relatively quick time," he said.
Hundreds of thousands of Nepalese spent a third night sleeping in the open on Monday night after the magnitude 7.9 earthquake that has been followed by nearly 60 aftershocks.
Last night many people in the hard-hit capital huddled under blankets on median strips and footpaths without shelter. Some Kathmandu open spaces have been transformed into mini tent cities.
Kathmandu resident, Kiran Chapagain, said people were still very afraid of going back into their homes.
"This is a really difficult time for us," he said. "We are living makeshift."
The death toll from the quake in Nepal is now over 4000 and about 7500 people are reported to be injured. Unicef says nearly 1 million children in earthquake affected areas are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. Aid workers report dwindling supplies of water and food, power outages, and downed mobile networks. Limited access to clean water and hygiene has increased the risk of diseases spreading.
Mr Francis' team, which has 14 fully-trained rescue technicians and 1.5 tonnes of specialist support equipment, will work with a team of sniffer dogs from Germany.
Members of a Chinese search and rescue team also said they were "hopeful" of finding earthquake survivors.
