1:52 pm
Jack
Air force helicopters flew rescue workers to the remote Himalayan region of Sikkim's Mangan on Tuesday in search of survivors of the powerful earthquake that killed more than 80 people in India, Nepal and Tibet.
Most of the casualties were near the epicentre of Sunday's 6.9 magnitude quake in the sparsely populated Sikkim, popular with tourists for its Buddhist monasteries and spectacular trekking.
So far more than 50 have died in Sikkim and there is shortage of space to admit patients in hospitals, an official at the state's health ministry said.
Landslides, rain and fog hampered relief efforts for the second day, with many of the region's high mountain passes being blocked. But Army helicopters took advantage of a break in the clouds to fly a small group of rescuers into Mangan, a small town ringed by snow-capped mountains near the epicentre.
