Massive quake kills 34 in India, NDRF teams sent to Bihar, UP

"Of these 34 dead, 23 were killed in Bihar, eight in Uttar Pradesh and three in West Bengal," Union Home Secretary L C Goyal said at a hurriedly called press conference here.

More than 100 people have also been injured in these states.

Goyal said five teams of National Disaster Response Force, comprising 45 personnel each, have been dispatched to Bihar and Uttar Pradesh for conducting rescue and relief operations.

"Our focus is on rescue operations. The damage assessment will follow in some time," he said.

The Home Secretary said the NDRF teams are equipped with life-saving kits, breathing equipment, wood and metal cutters and other essential gadgets and are also accompanied by paramedics and sniffer dogs.

Goyal said that the Bihar government had requested for the NDRF teams and one team each has been sent to Darbhanga, Supaul, Motihari and Gopalganj districts of the state. An NDRF team has also been sent to Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, he added.

"I am in constant touch with the Chief Secretaries of the affected states and assured them all possible help," he said.

The National Crisis Management Committee, headed by Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth, has already held a meeting and reviewed the situation. It will meet again soon to take stock of the situation.

NDRF Director General OP Singh said that 10 rescue teams have been flown to Nepal to assist the local authorities there.

Director General of India Meteorological Department, Laxman Singh Rathore, said that 14 aftershocks above the intensity of 5 on the Richter scale were registered in the affected areas.

Goyal said an inter-governmental coordination cell has been set up under the Cabinet secretariat, which will work with all the stakeholders engaged in rescue and relief operations in Nepal and India.

The Home Secretary said communication networks in the affected states were functioning fine.

The National Disaster Management Authority has set up a control room in the wake of the quake with the telephone numbers -- 011-26701728, 011-26701729, Mobile: +91 9868881801.

Six people died in Bihar's East Champaran and four in Sitamarhi districts, which share borders with Nepal, the epicentre of the quake, special secretary to the disaster management department Anirudh Kumar told PTI.

Darbhanga reported two deaths, while one death each was reported from Supaul, Araria, West Champaran, Sheohar and Saran, he said, adding that 48 people were injured in quake-related incidents in various parts of Bihar, which was hit by a devastating storm that claimed 55 lives on Tuesday night.

In West Bengal, where a state-wide civic election is on, three persons were killed in quake-related incidents.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said two persons died in Darjeeling and one in Jalpaiguri district.

Sixty-nine people were injured in Malda district in roof collapse incidents at three places and stampede-like situation as people tried to rush out of buildings, district officials said.

The earthquake triggered landlsides in various parts of the mountain state of Sikkim, official sources said, adding that there have been no reports of any loss of life so far.

In Uttar Pradesh, three deaths were reported in Barabanki district while two casualties occurred in Gorakhpur and one in Sant Kabir Nagar.

A woman and two children were killed when an under- construction wall collapsed in Basantapur village in Mohammadpur Khala area of Barabanki.

In Gorakhpur, two persons, including a two-and-a-half- year-old child, were killed, police said.

An eight-year-old girl was killed when a house collapsed in Purwa village in Mehdawal area in Sant Kabir Nagar.

The earthquake was epicentred at Lamjung, around 80-km northwest of Kathmandu.