Kathmandu, May 6 (IANS): The UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Wednesday that it distributed food to 267,000 of the 1.4 million Nepalese people in need of food after the disastrous earthquake that hit the country on April 25.

Rice, a staple in the Nepalese diet, and nutritionally fortified biscuits were among the foodstuffs passed out, WFP representative Zoie Jones told Efe news agency at the organization's logistics base at the Kathmandu airport.

Jones added that food distribution is coordinated out of two bases: one in the northern Gorkha district and the other in Sindhupalchok, a district north of Kathmandu, from where supplies are transported by helicopters, work animals or any other possible means.

The organisation aims to nourish 1.4 million people with food, which alone costs $116 million, Jones noted, while the entire operation, including communication, transport and logistics, requires $150 million.

"We will have the food to reach them in a couple of days," he said.

The earthquake in Nepal left at least 7,652 people dead and 16,390 injured.