Rescue workers in the Indian state of Sikkim are struggling to reach victims of Sunday's powerful earthquake.

More than 70 people were killed, at least 40 of them in Sikkim. The quake was felt elsewhere in India, as well as in Nepal, Tibet and Bhutan.

Some 6,000 troops have been deployed in the north-eastern state to dig through mudslides and clear away rubble in an effort to reach cut-off villages.

Hundreds of people spent a second night in the open as aftershocks continued.

In the immediate aftermath of the quake heavy rains and landslides held up the relief effort. But a break in the poor weather meant that army helicopters were able to drop food supplies and transport medical teams to some affected areas.

Unblocking roads

Nevertheless, officials say the biggest challenge is reaching those villages in the most isolated areas of the mountainous state amid fears that people may still be trapped under debris.

Convoys of vehicles left the state capital Gangtok on Tuesday morning but the AFP news agency says that progress was tortuously slow along precarious, badly-damaged roads.

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