Himalayan earthquake: landslides and rain hamper search for survivors

Rescue workers use shovels and bare hands to free bodies from debris after earthquake kills dozens in India, Nepal and Tibet Rain and landslides were hampering the search for survivors of a 6.9 magnitude earthquake that has killed at least 50 people in the isolated Himalayan regions stretching across India, Nepal and Tibet. Rescue workers used shovels and their bare hands to pull bodies from the debris of collapsed buildings as the death toll rose. Thick cloud was preventing helicopters from flying over the affected areas and slowing the arrival of at least 400 rescue workers and medica trying to reach the most affected area by road. At least 25 people died in the north-eastern Indian state of Sikkim after the quake on Sunday evening, police said. Paramilitary soldiers had recovered 18 bodies and had located seven others buried under mounds of concrete in Gangtok, Sikkim’s capital, said the local police chief, Jasbir Singh. Another 11 people were killed the neighbouring Indian states of Bihar and West Bengal. Seven people died in Nepal and China’s official Xinhua news agency reported seven deaths from Tibet. “The situation doesn’t look good,” an official from a UN disaster management team in New Delhi said. “Even if the number of casualties is low, there is likely to be a huge need for humanitarian assistance for affected civilians whose homes have been destroyed and who need food and shelter. The UN is taking this very seriously.” Sikkim is the country’s most sparsely populated state. It is surrounded by Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet, and is prone to landslides, with the number of high-rise buildings increasing in its mountain towns because of India’s economic boom. Most of the deaths occurred when houses, already weakened from recent monsoon rains, collapsed because of the force of the quake, which was centred in Sikkim near India’s border with Nepal. Much of the damage was not immediately known because the region is remote and sparsely populated. “People are still panicky,” said Pawan Thapa, a resident of Gangtok. “We spent the whole night outside our homes.” He added that shops, businesses and offices were closed in the city and neighbouring areas. Army officers and border police stationed near the epicentre of the quake in Sikkim, which has a large military deployment near the Chinese border, rescued at least 200 villagers. Their patrols sent in radio reports of more casualties as they spread out on foot to isolated mountain villages. Many towns in Sikkim experienced power cuts, while thousands are being sheltered by the government. At least 100 people were injured in Sikkim, while hundreds of tourists, mainly Indian, were stranded on the main road out of the state to West Bengal in the south. The quake was felt in New Delhi as well as to Bangladesh, shaking buildings. Several earthquakes have hit north and east India this year, but none have caused major damage or injuries. In 2001, an earthquake in the western state of Gujarat killed at least 19,700 people and caused damage in neighbouring Pakistan. India Nepal Natural disasters and extreme weather Tibet guardian.co.uk

Posted by on September 19, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.