Even as the death toll in the Sunday’s devastating earthquake rose to 100, an entire village of 120 residents is still untraced in North Sikkim. With the new finding, the death toll may go up further.
The village Bay, consisting of 14 huts and located between Lachung and Chungthang, simply disappeared after the earthquake. “The entire village looks like a debris and the residents must have been trapped in it,” said officials of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).
Meanwhile, a flash flood at Lachung Chu River has posed an imminent threat of fresh landslides in the state.
Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Chamling confirmed 68 deaths till now in the state and said rescue teams are yet to establish contact with several affected villages for rendering relief work.
The earth quake also killed 18 employees of a hydro electric plant working at Chungtang. Heavy downpour is causing obstacles to the relief work. In majority of the affected villages, bodies are yet to be recovered.
