United Nations: 1.4 Million in Need of Food Assistance After Nepal Earthquake

The United Nations announced this week that 1.4 million people are in need of food following the massive 7.8 earthquake that struck Nepal on Saturday.

U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said in a statement Tuesday that an estimated 8 million people were affected by the earthquake that struck near Nepal's capital of Kathmandu on Saturday morning. Of those 8 million, 1.4 million are reportedly in immediate need of food assistance.

Photos taken this week show residents of Kathmandu and surrounding villages sleeping outside without shelter after their homes were destroyed in Saturday's natural disaster.

The United Nations has already reportedly reserved $15 million of its emergency response fund to give to Nepal to aid in the rebuilding process.

The massive earthquake also triggered a subsequent avalanche and landslide near the Mount Everest basecamp and the popular trekking village of Ghodatabela, where 250 people are reported missing as a result of the landslide.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement this week that the death toll numbers continue to rise in relation to the recent earthquake.

"The reports of the devastation are still coming in and the numbers of people killed, injured and affected by this earthquake continue to rise," Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson said on his behalf.

"It is clear that very many lives have been lost," the statement continued. "There has also been significant damage to Nepal's irreplaceable cultural heritage."

Along with an estimated 4,000-person death toll, several well-known historical sites have also been damaged in the quake, including the World Heritage Site of Kathmandu Valley, as well as numerous Buddhist and Hindu temples and shrines.