Death toll rises to 66 in India

New Delhi, April 27

The death toll in Saturday's earthquake and aftershocks in the country has climbed to 66 with Bihar reporting the highest casualties.

The quake and aftershocks, which were experienced in some parts of North and East India, have also left 288 others injured, a senior Home Ministry official said on Monday.

Bihar accounted for 51 deaths while 173 were injured, the official said.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had yesterday directed government officials to carry out relief work for the affected on a war footing for which all the ministers and secretaries will camp in the districts under their charge.

To mitigate the woes of people affected by a series of natural calamities in the past few months, it has been decided that one quintal foodgrain, besides Rs 5800 assistance will be distributed to each affected family as immediate relief, Kumar said.

The official said while 12 people died and 70 others were injured when the tremors rocked Uttar Pradesh, two persons lost their lives and 35 others were injured in West Bengal.

One person was killed and seven others were injured in Rajasthan.

Five teams of NDRF have been deployed in Bihar and one in UP for rescue and relief operations of affected people.

So far, 180 people have been evacuated to safer places by the NDRF in Darbhanga in Bihar. PTI