Nepal earthquake: 200 seek shelter in Canadian Kathmandu factory

A factory in Kathmandu, Nepal, with a Thunder Bay connection, is providing emergency aid to victims of Saturday's 7.8-magnitude earthquake.

Thunder Bay's Kyley Blomquist established theopen-air factory in Kathmandu last year for her clothing import business.

Now she says theElfarrow Apparel facility is one of the only structures left standing in the Naya Bazar neighbourhood of the city.

About 200 people workers, their families and many people from the neighbourhood are sleeping on the Elfarrow grounds, using power from the generator and eating food bought by draining the company's local bank account, according to Blomquist'sbusiness partner SalimKhan.

• Nepal earthquake: 2,500 dead as aftershocks terrify survivors
• Nepal7.9earthquakehits populatedKathmanduValley

"The safest place in Naya Bazaris Elfarrow factory," Khan saidSunday on a shaky phone connection from Kathmandu as aftershocks continued nearly every hour.

"We had some fabric that we took out of the factoryand made tents for the people outside because the factory space is packed," he said. "But we tried to get as much children and older people in the factory as we can for their safety."

Khan said he has managed to buy enough food to feed the gathering crowd for two days, but he's not sure what he'll do after that. He's also worried aboutthe well water becoming contaminated as rain washes over thebodies of earthquake victims, still trapped in their crumbling homes.

"The water is running very low," Khan said. "So that's a problem."

Back in Thunder Bay, Blomquist launched a fundraising campaign online and at her store.

"It's a very emotional experience for me because there's many people there that I love and I'm worried," she said. "But I I know the guys that are there, what they're doing, they can do it,as long as we have support for them."

Blomquist said she plans to send the money on Monday through an online transfer in hopes that it will help Khan buy food for the people seeking refuge at the factory, and diesel for the generator.

Once the initial donations have been sent, she said she'll look into aid agencies and other formal means of getting money and assistance to the people who are depending on Elfarrow.