As many as 17 more bodies were found in North Sikkim on Friday, taking the toll in quake-hit Himalayan state to 92 even as rescue workers inched their way into the devastated North district villages on foot.
Many villages in the region have been wiped out and the chance of finding
survivors was dim, sources said.
The disaster management control room in Gangtok said 17 bodies were recovered in the district since noon while one was found in the morning.
They said rescue workers reached villages surrounding Dzongu and Chungthang on foot as roads were still blocked by landslides, making the prospect of the toll rising further likely.
After five days of the 6.8 magnitude temblor, stench of bodies buried in the rubble of houses hung heavy in the air. Heavy rains have worsened the situation for rescue workers.
"The pace of the rescue workers is slow due to disrupted road communication and heavy rains. But they are slowly gaining ground," the sources said.
The Army did not carry out sorties today but a state government Pawanhans chopper made two sorties and dropped communication sets in Lachung, Lachen and Chungthang.
With this, the number of dead has climbed to 74 in North district, while it remained the same in others with 13 in the East, 1 in South and 4 in West Sikkim.