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Himalayan Quake's Toll Rises to 55

Rain, landslides hamper rescue efforts

By Evann Gastaldo, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 19, 2011 6:43 AM CDT

(Newser) – At least 55 people are dead in India, Nepal, and Tibet after yesterday’s 6.9 magnitude earthquake, and the search for more survivors in remote Himalayan villages is being hampered by rain and landslides. "The situation doesn't look good," a UN official tells Reuters. "My feeling is the death toll and number of injured are going to increase." Helicopters could not fly over affected areas due to thick clouds, but some blocked mountain passes have reopened.

Some towns are still without electricity, and the AP reports that more than 100,000 homes have been damaged. Most of the deaths were caused when houses, which had been weakened by recent monsoons, collapsed.

Nepalese women remove bricks of the damaged house to make way for pedestrians in Katmandu, Nepal, Monday, Sept. 19, 2011. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

A view of damaged school wall after Sunday’s earthquake in Siliguri, India, Monday, Sept. 19, 2011. (AP Photo)

A man looks on at a house damaged by Sunday’s earthquake in Katmandu, Nepal, Monday, Sept. 19, 2011. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

Indian men clear out the ruins of a building damaged by Sunday’s earthquake in Siliguri, India, Monday, Sept. 19, 2011. (AP Photo/Tamal Roy)

Nepalese locals along with policemen stand near collapsed buildings damaged by Sunday’s earthquake in Katmandu, Nepal, Monday, Sept. 19, 2011. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

People look at a damaged minaret of a Hindu temple following an earthquake in Siliguri, India, Sunday, Sept. 18, 2011. (AP Photo)

A view of a damaged house after an earthquake in Bhaktapur, on the outskirts of in Katmandu, Nepal, Sunday, Sept. 18, 2011. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

A man looks on from a damaged house after an earthquake in Bhaktapur, on the outskirts of in Katmandu, Nepal, Sunday, Sept. 18, 2011. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

British Embassy staff look on after the embassy's compound wall collapsed reportedly killing three pedestrians following an earthquake in Katmandu, Nepal, Sunday, Sept. 18, 2011. (AP Photo/Binod Joshi)

A Nepalese woman removes bricks of the damaged house to make way for pedestrians after an earthquake in Katmandu, Nepal, Monday, Sept. 19, 2011. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

Nepalese rescue volunteers and security personnel stand on the rubble of a British Embassy wall collapse after an earthquake in Kathmandu on September 18, 2011. (Getty Images)

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Himalayan Quake's Toll Rises to 55

Rain, landslides hamper rescue efforts

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