Mild earthquake hits state, 22-year-old killed in Siliguri

SILIGURI/KOLKATA: A 22-year-old college student died as a result of the earthquake which took place in Siliguri on Wednesday.

Samrat Das was lying on his bed in the first floor of his residence in Shantinagar, Siliguri, when the tremors started. Amidst the loud cries of "earthquake" from the neighbourhood, his pet dog started running around the room in panic.

As he tried to rush out of his house with his pet, Samrat lost balance and fell on the ground, following which he started bleeding from his nose and mouth.

He was rushed to a nursing home on Sevok Road, where the doctors declared him brought dead.

An earthquake measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale occurred at 10:20 am on Wednesday, with its epicentre in the Kokrajhar region of Assam. Tremors were felt in West Bengal, Sikkim and the neighbouring Bhutan.

"Samrat wanted to become a teacher. He had come home for holidays," stated Usha Das, mother of the deceased.

Minister Gautam Deb called up the aggrieved family from Kolkata. Friends, relatives and neighbours arrived at the Das household after hearing the news. "Samrat was very attached to his pet," stated Rishabh Das, a friend.

A tremor was also felt in the city and other South Bengal districts as well. Although it did not have any major impact on the people here in the city, it certainly triggered some panic as people came out of various buildings, especially the high-rise ones, in the city.

People working in the IT sector in Salt Lake Sector V rushed downstairs after they felt a sudden jerk while working inside their office buildings. The incident hardly had any impact on the Metro services in the city. The rail and bus services also remained unaffected as it was a mild tremor.

People in various government offices also felt the tremor on Wednesday morning, some of whom came out their office buildings, apprehending that there may be some aftershocks.

According to the Alipore Met office, tremor was also felt in various South Bengal districts. No injury or casualty has, however, been reported from South Bengal.

Sujay Pal, who works in Salt Lake Sector V, said: "My table and desktop started shaking vigorously. Initially, I could not understand the reason behind the incident. Within a few moments, I realised that an earthquake might have hit the state. Some of my colleagues started rushing out of the office and so did I."

Cracks were visible in some old houses in North Bengal but in the city no such incident has been reported so far.