35 tourists airlifted from quake-hit Lachung village

Mangan (Sikkim), Sept 21 (PTI) Thirty-five tourists,
including two from Norway, were Wednesday airlifted by the
Army from Lachung village, one of the worst-hit quake areas in
notheastern Indian state Sikkim.
Also airlifted were 16 people injured in the quake, army
sources said.
The tourists, some of whom were wounded, were airlifted
from Ringzim helipad here.
Paljor Lachungpa, who is coordinating the evacuation,
said Lachen was still cut off and more tourists could be
airlifted from Chungthang later in the day. The tourists were
a state of shock.
Bishnupriya Dutta, a housewife from Bhubaneswar touring
Sikkim with eight family members, including two children, was
barely able to narrate the harrowing experience.
She was on way to Lachung from Lachen when the quake
struck. "The car was shaking violently and the driver said
there was a earthquake ... We were all terribly scared."
Dutta, who along with her family was staying at an army
camp at Bichhu for the past three nights, said, "On way here
today I saw a large number of houses damaged and the roads had
caved in ... I thanked God".
Asked whether she would return to Sikkim in future, her
answer was "Never."
"I cannot forget all my life the fear and the pitch
darkness of that night when the quake struck and we moved to
Bichhu for shelter in the army camp," she said.