Earthquake toll rises to 62 in India, UP and Bihar worst hit
PM Narendra Modi on Sunday chaired a high-level meeting to review relief and rescue operations following the massive earthquake in Nepal and directed that the pace of search and rescue operations be increased.
The toll in the earthquakes rose to 62 in India on Sunday after an eight-year-old girl in Rajasthan became the latest victim. She died when a temporary shed collapsed in Nadbai in Bharatpur district.
Seven other children from the same area of Rajasthan were injured when a magnitude 6.7 aftershock jolted parts of India and Nepal on Sunday. The tremor was epicentred at 17 km south of Kodari in Nepal.
Giving details of the casualties on Sunday, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar said that 46 people were killed in Bihar, 13 in Uttar Pradesh, two in West Bengal and one in Rajasthan.
He further said that India will send an inter-ministerial team to Nepal to coordinate the relief works.
Bihar was the worst affected in India with maximum casualties.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday directed his officials to carry out relief work on a war footing.
Addressing a press conference at the state secretariat on Sunday, Kumar said that all the ministers and secretaries will camp in the respective districts under their charge.
He said that an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh has been paid to the kin of all those people killed in the quake. The Centre on Sunday increased the compensation to Rs 6 lakh.
In Uttar Pradesh, which also bore the brunt of devastation, at least 13 people were killed in various incidents triggered by the earthquake.
UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav announced a financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh to the kin of those killed, Rs 50,000 to grievously injured and Rs 20,000 to those having minor injuries.
Also, two more people were killed in West Bengal.
Speaking to reporters in Kolkata on Saturday, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that she will visit north Bengal on Sunday which has been most affected by the quake.
According to police, two people, including a 45-year-old woman, were crushed to death in Siliguri in Darjeeling district after the tremors led to the collapse of several buildings.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Nepal witnessed 35 aftershocks till Sunday and some of them were also felt in India, a day after a devastating tremor in the Himalayan country.
Sunday's aftershock of 6.7-magnitude was also felt in Delhi NCR, Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, which triggered another avalanche in the Himalayas.
In Kathmandu and other districts of Nepal, thousands fled their homes at 12.54 p.m. (time of the quake), triggering fresh scare in a country still trying to come to grips with Saturday's extent of devastation.
A magnitude 7.9 earthquake struck Nepal on Saturday, bringing widespread death and destruction in its wake. On Sunday, the toll in Nepal's worst quake in over 80 years crossed the 2,200-mark as rescuers dug with bare hands and heavy equipment through tonnes of rubble for survivors.
The Indian foreign secretary on Sunday said that 13 military and 3 civilian aircraft were being deployed for disaster relief in Nepal.
In addition, 35 buses were being deployed to move the stranded nationals out of Nepal via two road routes: Sunauli in UP and Raxaul in Bihar.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday chaired a high-level meeting to review relief and rescue operations following the massive earthquake in Nepal and directed that the pace of search and rescue operations be increased.
The prime minister was briefed on the work being done by various agencies involved in relief and rescue work, both in India and Nepal.