MANGAN, India (AP) -- Soldiers in northeastern India cleared a path Wednesday to a hydroelectric project where 17 people were confirmed killed by landslides in a powerful Himalayan earthquake, bringing the overall toll in the disaster to 99.
The 6.9 magnitude quake Sunday evening claimed lives in northeastern India, Tibet and Nepal. Rescue efforts have been hampered by heavy rain and mudslides that blocked the roads leading to villages in the remote, mountainous region.
Several of those slides hit the area around the hydroelectric plant being built along the Teesta, a glacier-fed river in the Himalayas in the northern part of the Indian state of Sikkim. (40 images)
The 6.9 magnitude quake Sunday evening claimed lives in northeastern India, Tibet and Nepal. Rescue efforts have been hampered by heavy rain and mudslides that blocked the roads leading to villages in the remote, mountainous region.
Several of those slides hit the area around the hydroelectric plant being built along the Teesta, a glacier-fed river in the Himalayas in the northern part of the Indian state of Sikkim. (40 images)
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An Indian villager and a child, evacuated by helicopter from Chungthang de-board at a helipad in Mangan, India, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011. AP / Altaf Qadri
Indian Army personnel and residents unload supplies and aid in an area affected by the 6.9 magnitude earthquake near Gangtok, Sikkim state, India, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2011. AP
Rescue volunteers carry the body of an earthquake victim after it was retrieved from Chungthang at a helipad in Mangan, India, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011. AP / Altaf Qadri
Indian villagers evacuated by helicopter from Chungthang arrive at a helipad in Mangan, India, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011. AP / Altaf Qadri
A child cries as Indian villagers, evacuated from Chungthang by helicopter, arrive at a helipad in Mangan, India, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011. AP / Altaf Qadri
Indian villagers wave towards a helicopter carrying the villagers evacuated by helicopter from Chungthang land at a helipad in Mangan, India, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011. AP / Altaf Qadri
Tourists and other passengers wait as a blocked portion of the national highway in Gangtok, India is cleared by the Border Roads Organization (BRO) on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011. AP / Anupam Nath
Nepalese laborers wait with vegetable sacks for the Dharan-Dhankuta road, damaged by a landslide following a 6.9-magnitude earthquake, to be cleared in Dharan about 214 kilometers (133 miles) from Katmandu, Nepal, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011. AP / Niranjan Shrestha
People look on as the Border Roads Organization (BRO) clears a portion of a national highway in Gangtok, India, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011. AP / Anupam Nath
The Border Roads Organization (BRO) clear a portion of a national highway in Gangtok, India, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011. AP / Anupam Nath
Nepalese police personnel pass by the damaged portion of the Dharan-Dhankuta road about 214 kilometers (133 miles) from Katmandu, Nepal, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011. AP / Niranjan Shrestha
Two kids play outside a house partially damaged in Sunday's 6.9-magnitude earthquake in Chungthang, India, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011. AP / Altaf Qadri
An earthquake survivor walks past a government building damaged in Sunday's 6.9-magnitude earthquake in Chungthang, India, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011. AP / Altaf Qadri
A Buddhist monk looks at Ringhim monastery damaged in Sunday's 6.9-magnitude earthquake in Mangan, India, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011. AP / Altaf Qadri
Earthquake survivors run past a school building damaged in Sunday's 6.9-magnitude earthquake in Chungthang, India, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011. AP / Altaf Qadri
Rescue volunteers carry the body of an earthquake victim after it was retrieved from Chungthang at a helipad in Mangan, India, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011. AP / Altaf Qadri
An aerial view of Teesta III hydro power project site partially damaged in Sunday's earthquake in Chungthang, India, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011. AP / Altaf Qadri
An aerial view of the Gangtok-Mangan highway damaged by a landslide following Sunday's 6.9-magnitude earthquake in Sikkim, India, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2011 is seen in this photo provided by the Indian Army. AP / Indian Army
An aerial view of the Gangtok-Mangan highway damaged by a landslide following Sunday's 6.9-magnitude earthquake in Sikkim, India, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2011 is seen in this photo provided by the Indian Army. AP / Indian Army
Residents stand in the rubble of a house destroyed in a 6.9 magnitude earthquake in the area of the epicenter near Mangan, in Sikkim state, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2011. AP
Members of Indian Army engineering wing help a Buddhist monk to descend a huge landslide following Sunday's 6.9 magnitude earthquake in Phengla around 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Gangtok, in Sikkim, India, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2011. AP / Altaf Qadri
Indian Army personnel help each other as they climb a landslide caused by Sunday's 6.9-magnitude earthquake in Phengla town, around 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Gangtok, in Sikkim, India, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2011. AP / Altaf Qadri
Indian men cross a landslide caused by Sunday's 6.9-magnitude earthquake in Phengla town, around 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Gangtok, in Sikkim, India, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2011. AP / Altaf Qadri
Indian Army personnel help each other as they climb a landslide caused by Sunday's 6.9-magnitude earthquake in Phengla town, around 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Gangtok, in Sikkim, India, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2011. AP / Altaf Qadri
Indian Army personnel carry spades and other equipment to clear a landslide caused by Sunday's earthquake in Phengla town, around 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Gangtok, in Sikkim, India, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2011. AP / Altaf Qadri
Jigmy Tamang, 6, an injured boy kisses his mother as he awaits medical treatment in a civil hospital in Gangtok, India, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2011. AP / Anupam Nath
A Buddhist monk blows incense sticks as others read prayer books near the rubble at Enchey Monastery in Gangtok, India, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2011. AP / Anupam Nath
A Buddhist monk retrieves a Buddhist poster from the rubble of a collapsed building at Enchey Monastery in Gangtok, India, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2011. AP / Anupam Nath
Young Indian girl who was injured in a building collapse that followed an earthquake is treated at a hospital in Siliguri, India, Monday, Sept. 19, 2011. AP / Anupam Nath
Nepalese locals along with policemen stand near collapsed buildings damaged by Sunday's earthquake in Katmandu, Nepal, Monday, Sept. 19, 2011. AP / Niranjan Shrestha
Residents sit on a basket ball court of a university fearing more aftershocks following an earthquake in Gangtok, India, Monday, Sept. 19, 2011. AP / Altaf Qadri
Residents stand near the debris of a building which collapsed following an earthquake in Gangtok, India, Monday, Sept. 19, 2011. AP / Altaf Qadri
Nepalese soldiers carry an injured civilian over an area hit in a landslide following a 6.9 magnitude earthquake, near Dharan in the Dhankuta district of eastern Nepal on Monday, Sept. 19, 2011. AP / Sita Mademba
A patient sleeps in the corridor of a Hindu temple as residents stay out of their homes fearing more aftershocks following Sunday's earthquake in Gangtok, India, Monday, Sept. 19, 2011. AP / Altaf Qadri
A view of a collapsed house at Lokanthali in Bhaktapur about 14 kilometers (8.7 miles) from Katmandu, Nepal, Monday, Sept. 19, 2011. AP
Residents stand near the debris of a building which collapsed following an earthquake in Gangtok, India, Monday, Sept. 19, 2011. AP / Altaf Qadri
Indian passengers sit atop vehicles stuck in the middle of a portion of damaged road in Gangtok, India, Monday, September 19, 2011. AP / Anupam Nath
Chief Minister of Sikkim Pawan Chamling, top center, looks on as men clear debris next to dead livestock in Gangtok, India, Monday, Sept. 19, 2011. AP
Nepalese people retrieve a motorbike buried under the debris of a house damaged by Sunday's earthquake in Bhaktapur about 14 kilometers (8.7 miles) from Katmandu, Nepal, Monday, Sept. 19, 2011. AP
Indian residents walk past boulders left in the road by an earthquake in Gangtok, India, Monday, Sept. 19, 2011. AP
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