Himalayan quake rescuers blast route towards epicentre Sikkim

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Rescue teams backed by army engineers using explosives tried to force their way on Tuesday to the remote epicentre of a powerful Himalayan earthquake that killed 83 people in India, Nepal and Tibet.

Before the grim search for more victims can even begin, the main challenge after Sunday's 6.8-magnitude quake is to reach the isolated, mountainous impact zone on the border between India's northeastern Sikkim state and Nepal. The death toll in Sikkim is currently at 50.

Convoys of vehicles carrying rescue workers, medical teams and emergency supplies left the Sikkim capital Gangtok at daybreak on Tuesday.

progress tortuously slow

But progress was tortuously slow over the narrow, badly damaged roads more often frequented by groups of adventurous tourists heading for Himalayan trekking trails.

After covering just a short section of the 60-kilometre (40-mile) route to the worst-affected districts of Mangan and Sangthan, the convoys came to a complete halt near the town of Phingla, where the path was blocked by a huge rockfall.

As army engineers drilled holes for explosives to try and blow apart the largest boulders, rescuers could only wait in frustration along with distraught locals trying to get through to relatives - unsure whether they were alive or dead.

Those who did attempt walking around the rockfall were stopped by soldiers.

"I know many shortcuts to reach Mangan but the army says it's not safe," said P. Sherpa, 62, whose son is a student at the North Sikkim Academy, a private school in Mangan.

"So all we can do is sit here and stare at the rocks."

One army official said it could take up to 48 hours to clear the entire stretch of road to the quake epicentre.

But on a positive note, a break in the monsoon weather allowed a resumption of helicopter flights which had been grounded most of Monday by heavy rains and low cloud.

Air force officials said food packages and small medical teams with doctors and paramedics had been air-dropped into Mangan and Sangthan.

The death toll from building collapses and landslides in Sikkim stood at 50, but Indian Home Secretary R.K. Singh warned the number could rise as emergency relief workers reached far-flung villages.

Officials said around 300 people had been admitted to hospitals across the state.

More than 5,000 army troops were mobilised to help clear roads and assist with the relief operation.

Hundreds stay outside

Hundreds of Gangtok residents spent a second night out in the open, too frightened to sleep in homes badly damaged by the quake.

Many saw out the night in the city's football stadium, slinging plastic sheets over the goalposts or sleeping on the terraces.

"The stadium is our kitchen and bedroom for the night. We're honestly just too scared to consider anything else," said 32-year-old Amrita Laqandri.

Eighteen other people died in Bihar and West Bengal, while China's official Xinhua news agency said seven people had been killed in southern Tibet, near the border with Sikkim.