After quake, flash floods in Sikkim

Gangtok, Sept 22 (IBNS) While Sikkim is still trying to recover the blows of Sunday's earthquake, the northeastern state was hit by flash floods on Thursday.

At least 100 people were stranded due to flash floods in Lachung near China border.

The death toll from Sunday's earthquake that struck mountainous northeastern India, Nepal and Tibet, rose to 116 on Thursday media reports said, even as several hundreds were believed to be still stranded in the worst affected north districts of Sikkim.

Meanwhile, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram visited Sikkim on Thursday and met the quake victims at Sir Tashi Namgyal Memorial Hospital here. Chidambaram also took an aerial tour of the affected areas.

Later he met Sikkim Governor B P Singh and Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling at the Raj Bhawan.

"The government will help in every way to restore normalcy in Sikkim. We have our sympathies with the victims and their families. Rs 50 crore have been released from the Centre for Sikkim. The Prime Minister will also visit the state soon," Chidambaram said at a press conference.

Chamling said that the state had suffered losses of about Rs 1 lakh crore from the 6.9 magnitude earthquake that struck on Sunday night, while aerial surveys revealed huge damage between Gangtok and Chung Thang.