Himalayan quake deaths rise as night falls

By Biswajyoti Das

GUWAHATI | Mon Sep 19, 2011 7:20pm IST

(Reuters) - Rescuers dug through mudslides on roads to isolated Himalayan villages on Monday in search of survivors after a 6.9 magnitude earthquake killed 63 people in India, Nepal and the Chinese region of Tibet.

Soldiers and police pulled victims from rubble as night closed in and the number of victims climbed to 35 in the "Shangri-la" northeastern state of Sikkim, the epicentre of Sunday night's quake felt more than miles away in Delhi.

Air Force helicopters took supplies to affected areas, ringed by some of the world's highest peaks. Some mountain passes blocked by landslides were reopened and planes made two food airdrops, the home secretary said.

"The earthquake has loosened the hill-faces, and when it rains, it causes landslides. So the situation is still very dangerous," said Deepak Pandey, spokesman for the Indo-Tibetan Border police.

"We have rescued more than 400 people since last night," Pandey said. The rugged north of the state at the edge of the Tibetan plateau was worst hit.

It may take days for the final number of casualties to be confirmed but border police said they did not think the death toll would be on a massive scale.

At least seven died in Bihar, while six died in the West Bengal.

People in Sikkim's main city, Gangtok, sat on roadsides under umbrellas in the heavy rain and prepared for another chilly night -- reluctant to go home for fear of aftershocks.

"We are scared of another earthquake like last night, we have no place to stay, our house is damaged, and we can only pray to God now," Sushma Sharma, mother of three children in Gangtok, told Reuters.

It has been raining for four straight days in parts of Sikkim. The temperature in the quake zone was about 8 degrees Celsius (46 degrees Fahrenheit) and will drop overnight.

"Let's pray that the weather gets better," said army spokesman Om Singh.

Himalayan quake deaths rise as night falls