Three dead in Bihar quake, Nitish cuts short Delhi visit

Patna: Three people are dead in the high intensity earthquake in different parts of Bihar, prompting Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to cut short his visit to New Delhi.

BJP MP from Bihar Rajiv Pratap Rudy said that three deaths had been reported in Sitamarhi, Bihar, although confirmation was still awaited.

“We have got information that three people have died in Sitamarhi district of Bihar. However, we need to confirm this further,” Rudy said.

“We have also received reports of property damage in Muzaffarpur and Purnia,” Rudy said. “PM Modi is monitoring the situation himself and will provide all possible support to the people of Bihar.”

He also said that power has been switched off in the state for safety reasons.

Earlier there was a report that two people were injured in Samastipur and Bhagalpur districts respectively in a rush to run out from their houses during the quake which measured 7.5 on Ritcher scale, reports from the districts said.

Cracks appeared in a Grameen bank building at Kaiserpatti area under Sadar police station, a report from Kisanganj said.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar spoke to chief secretary Anjani Kumar Singh, state police chief PK Thakur and directed them to alert people particularly of areas bordering Nepal.

The DGP told PTI that in deference of the chief minister’s direction, all police heads of the districts have been directed to send alerts to police stations on wireless and assess the extent of damage.

Sources at the chief minister’s house said he is returning to Patna cutting short his visit to the national capital.

Kumar had a telephonic talk with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the calamity.

Speaker of Bihar Assembly Uday Narayan Choudhary and Minister Shyam Rajak ran out in the open during a programme at Kurji Holy Hospital in the state capital.

Rajak told PTI they were attending a programme for welfare of downtrodden children at the Kurji hospital when they felt the tremor and ran out of the building alongwith the children.

Residents in the state capital rushed out of their homes in view of the quake.

Director State Meteorological office AK Sen told PTI there was possibility of secondary jerks of the earthquake in the next 48 hours particularly in areas like Darbhanga, Araria, Kisanganj bordering Nepal and an alert has been sounded by the state government in this regard.

PTI