Death toll climbs to 116, 40 stranded foreign tourists rescued
Twenty more bodies were recovered in quake-hit Sikkim taking the toll in Sunday's powerful 6.8 magnitude temblor to 116 which may go up further with rescue teams still to reach about 15 affected remote villages in North district.
While the toll rose from 53 to 73 in Sikkim, West Bengal has reported 15 deaths, nine in
Bihar, 11 in Nepal, seven in Tibet and one in Bhutan.
Officials said rescue teams found six bodies in East Sikkim and 14 in North as they managed to enter Dzongu from Mangan, the headquarters of North Sikkim where the strong quake was epicentred.
There is still no trace of 120 residents of Bay village in North Sikkim, located between Lachung and Chungthang, three days after the quake.
"We find no trace as yet of 120 people living in 14 huts at Bay village as the area is totally devastated. There is a lot of debris ... and the residents have gone missing," National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team in-charge Nisith Upadhyay told PTI here.
"We are afraid some bodies may have been trapped under the flattened houses as boulders are lying strewn all over," he added.
40 foreign tourists stranded in North Sikkim were evacuated, a Union Home Ministry official said.
Defence forces and other agencies struggled hard to clear mud, rocks and boulders blocking roads to reach the affected areas.
In Lalchung, a seriously injured bus passenger was rescued in an army helicopter in a daring operation as there was no place to land.
Two Brigadiers jumped down nearly seven to 10 feet from the chopper to make space for the passenger who was helped into the hovering aircraft.
North district alone accounted for 50 deaths, while 18 people died in East district, four in West and one in South district. Over 300 people were injured, the sources said.
Rescue teams which include personnel of the army, NDRF and local people would have to clear at least 30 to 40 major roads blocks created by debris of landslides to reach about 15 major villages.
Four NDRF teams have fanned out to quake-hit Lingu, Sakyang, Pentong and Bay villages in North Sikkim which have been rendered almost inaccessible after the quake.
According to S R Bhutia, Deputy Director of Horticultural Society of Sikkim, who led the four teams, "we haven't found any person in the village. We are searching for them."
Meanwhile, a flash flood at Lachung Chu river has posed a threat of fresh landslides at Lachung, one of the worst-hit by the quake, according to a Geological Survey of India officer.
"The flash flood will loosen the soil and may trigger fresh landslides in the area," the GSI's Sikkim zone officer said.
In Gangtok, Chief Minister pawan Kumar Chamling said the loss from the devastating quake was estimated to be around Rs.one lakh crore and sought a special relief package from the Centre towards rehabilitation work.
He said it would take another two to three days to reach all the remote villages of North Sikkim. "Nine villages are still totally inaccessible in that area," he said.
Home Minister P Chidambaram will visit the quake-hit areas tomorrow and take stock of the relief and rescue work.
Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi today made an aerial survey of North Sikkim besides visiting an affected village and a hospital.
Accompanied by Sikkim Chief Minister, he landed at the army helipad in Libing near Gangtok. He then visited Lumsey, a residential pocket and also interacted with injured at the Central Referral Hospital, Manipal.
"We have no idea of the condition in villages like Sakyong-Pentong, Bey which were in forested areas beyond Dzongu," a senior official said in Mangan.
The rescue operation was also hampered by intermittent rains, he said.
Army officials said a 8-10 km stretch at Tung, which is 16 km off Mangan, had caved in impeding rescue operators from reaching worst-hit Chungthang.
