Rescuers have cleared a highway leading into a Tibetan town where thousands of people were trapped following the 8.1-magnitude earthquake in Nepal Saturday.

Traffic resumed Tuesday afternoon on the 37-km highway leading into the Zham Town in Nyalam County, Tibet Autonomous Region, allowing rescuers and relief materials to be trucked into the hard-hit town on the Nepal border, according to the rescue headquarters.

About 6,000 residents in Zham have been struggling with a shortage of food, water, medicine and tents after the quake caused landslides to block more than a dozen sections of the town's entry highway.

More than 4,000 people have been confirmed dead in Nepal after the quake struck the Nepal capital, which also claimed 25 lives in China's Tibet that borders the Himalayan country.

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