Worst affected areas in Sikkim quake totally damaged: Indian army

Worst affected areas in Sikkim quake totally damaged: Indian army

The worst affected Mangan and Singhtam areas in quake-hit Sikkim in northeast India are totally damaged, as army personnel and rescuers are fighting to get into the areas whose roads are blocked by landslides, the Indian army side on Tuesday.

The Press Trust of India quoted army sources as saying that the army personnel and rescuers are still unable to get into these areas, including Mangan, the epicenter of the 6.8 magnitude earthquake which hit Sikkim on Sunday.

But local TV reports said about 200 soldiers and rescuers are already entering these areas.

The areas are believed to be sparsely populated but it is unknown about the casualties there.

So far 58 people are confirmed killed in the earthquake in India, including 41 in Sikkim, and 17 in neighboring West Bengal and Bihar.

Editor: Wang Guanqun

English.news.cn   2011-09-20 16:32:11 FeedbackPrintRSS
NEW DELHI, Sept. 20 (Xinhua)