Thirty-five tourists, including two from Norway, were on Wednesday airlifted by the Army from Lachung village, one of the worst-hit quake areas in Sikkim.

Also airlifted were 16 people injured in the quake, Army sources said.

The tourists, some of whom were wounded, were airlifted from Ringzim helipad here.

Paljor Lachungpa, who is coordinating the evacuation, said Lachen was still cut off and more tourists could be airlifted from Chungthang later in the day. The tourists were a state of shock.

Bishnupriya Dutta, a housewife from Bhubaneswar touring Sikkim with eight family members, including two children, was barely able to narrate the harrowing experience.

She was on way to Lachung from Lachen when the quake struck. "The car was shaking violently and the driver said there was a earthquake we were all terribly scared."

Dutta, who along with her family was staying at an army camp at Bichhu for the past three nights, said, "On way here today I saw a large number of houses damaged and the roads had caved in. I thanked God".

Asked whether she would return to Sikkim in future, her answer was "Never."

"I cannot forget all my life the fear and the pitch darkness of that night when the quake struck and we moved to Bichhu for shelter in the army camp," she said.

Toll mounts: Seven more bodies were found in the quake rubble, taking the death toll in the calamity in Sikkim to 60 as rescuers today struggled to reach the devastated areas where "heavy casualties" were feared.

Official sources said six bodies were found in east Sikkim and one in north Sikkim, where the 6.8 magnitude temblor was epicentred.

Fresh landslides triggered by heavy rains were reported in the worst-affected areas of Mangan, Lachung, Lachen and Sighthan areas of north Sikkim last night.

The landslides and landslips along the 60 km stretch between Gangtok and Mangan along NH31A, the lifeline of the mountain state, was affecting rescue operations in the higher reaches in the mountains, army sources said.

Army sources 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.

Sikkim director general of police Jasbir Singh said border road organisation personnel were deployed to clear the highway.

District collectors have been asked to reach Mangan, Lachen, Lachung and Chungthan, rendered inaccessible by the landslides, immediately by air as more bodies are feared to be trapped in under quake debris.

"Heavy casualties are feared in these areas," he said.

Indian Air Force continued recces in north Sikkim, where relief material was airdropped on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the bus missing with 24 passengers and crewwas rescued from Tung last night.

Army, NDRF and disaster management personnel walked to Tung, between quake epi-centre Mangan and Chungthang and rescued the people in the bus last night. However, one person in the bus had died, official sources said.

AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi has, meanwhile, reached Bagdogra Airport in West Bengal on way to Gangtok, the Sikkim DGP said.

Inclement weather delayed his arrival by about two hours.

Gandhi is scheduled to visit worst-hit Chungthang during the day, he added.