Indian soldiers are trying to reach a hydroelectric plant in the state of Sikkim where at least 17 people were killed in a series of landslides.

The landslides were triggered by a powerful earthquake on Sunday.

A spokesman at the plant told the BBC that the victims were hit by falling boulders caused by landslides.

The death toll in India, Nepal and Tibet neared 100 on Wednesday and officials have warned that it could rise significantly.

Helicopters in Sikkim are continuing to airlift the injured and stranded.

Still inaccessible

The spokesman for Teesta Urja Limited, which runs the power plant, said that one worker was missing and 10 others were injured. About 1,000 people work at the plant.

He said that the victims were returning to the plant after their shift when they were hit by rocks falling off the mountain roads which surround the plant.

"We are trying to ascertain the number of people who are missing, but it is difficult because some local workers have returned home after the quake," Teesta Urja executive PP Baby told the AP news agency.

Officials say that soldiers in helicopters are on their way to the area while other rescue workers were using heavy machinery to try to clear the mud and rocks blocking the road to the plant.

The plant is being built along the Teesta, a glacier fed river in the Himalayas in the northern part of Sikkim.

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