JCB announces $1m donation to Nepal quake zone

British equipment maker JCB has announced that it is donating $1m of diggers and electrical power generators to the relief effort in earthquake-hit Nepal. 

Ten backhoe loaders were made available immediately to the Nepalese Army and are now at work in the areas worst hit by the disaster.   

Lord Bamford, the chairman of JCB, said: "It’s shocking to see the devastation caused by this earthquake and the resulting widespread damage and destruction. On behalf of JCB, I express my heartfelt condolences to everyone affected by this natural disaster. JCB will continue to help the Nepalese government in every possible way."  

The firm supplied the backhoes through its dealer, MAW Enterprises, in Nepal. The electrical power generators are en route from JCB India’s factory in Delhi.   

The JCB backhoe loaders have been deployed to help ground relief efforts in the aftermath of the earthquake, which measured 7.8 on the Richter Scale.  

The death toll from the earthquake is presently put at 5,500, with at least 11,000 injured. About 70,000 houses were destroyed. 

JCB has previously donated machines and generators to the Philippines, Haiti and Sri Lanka after natural disasters. 

In January this year a ship carrying 105 pieces of JCB equipment to the Middle East ran aground off the English coast. 

Image: Aftermath of the Nepalese earthquake (Nirmal Dulal/Wikimedia Commons)