Shock and shiver in tremor in Siliguri- Quake-rattled students write exam in field

Amrita Ghosh, 19, got a panic attack as Siliguri shook in Tuesday’s tremors. She
was taken to Siliguri district hospital by a couple of ladies and wheeled into the
emergency wing. The picture shows Telegraph photographer Kundan Yolmo
(in spectacles) assisting Amrita. She was reported to be in a stable condition;

TT, May 12: Colleges today allowed students to write exams in open fields in Siliguri and several school students got injured while rushing out of classrooms as north Bengal shook in a Nepal-centred earthquake. 

The 7.3-strong quake and successive tremors came days after the April 25 temblor that has claimed thousands of lives in the Himalayan country. No deaths have been reported in north Bengal after today's tremors. Around 30 people were injured. 

At Siliguri College, over 700 students appearing for North Bengal University's undergraduate first-year examination wrote their papers on the college grounds. 

"The students rushed out after the first quake around 12.35pm. After 15 minutes, we asked them to go inside. But when the second quake shook the place after 1pm, the examination committee took the decision to hold the test on the grounds," said Ujjwal Sarkar, the teacher in charge of Siliguri College.  Arpan Sarkar, a first-year student said when they were writing the exam on the second floor of the building, "we felt the first quake". 

He said: "All of us started shouting and ran out." When they reassembled after 15 minutes and again the classroom furniture rattled, "this time the college authorities asked us to run out with the answer sheets. We were told to write our exam on the college ground," Arpan said. 

A schoolgirl is brought to Siliguri district hospital after she fainted during the quake.
 (AFP pictures)

Divya Singh, another first-year student of political science, said although she was nervous for some time, she wrote her paper well once outside. 

"There were two quakes in a gap of 15 minutes and I was very nervous for some time. But after coming out to the grounds, I focused on writing the paper and it went off well," she said. 

Around 400 Siliguri Women's College students also wrote their test in a field, college authorities said.

At Surya Sen College, also in Siliguri, the exam today was cancelled because the students refused to enter the building after the first quake. According to Sujoy Chakraborty, the centre in-charge, 1,100 students were appearing for their political science paper.

"The students had just started writing when the earthquake happened and all of them rushed out. There was panic among the students and they refused to go back inside. So we called up the North Bengal University and with its consent we cancelled today's examination," Chakraborty said.

A woman cries in fear after the tremors in Siliguri on Tuesday. (PTI)

He added: "In the chaos, some of the students went home with their answer scripts."

At Bagdogra College, while students were rushing out of the building during the quake, one student injured her leg and had to be admitted to North Bengal Medical College and Hospital.

In South Dinajpur, eight students of Sayrapur High School in Gangarampur were injured when a portion of a staircase railing collapsed during the tremors.

"We had organised a cultural event for the birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore on our school ground. There was a strong wind and rain. Most of the children climbed up the first floor of our school building," said Nimai Sarkar, the headmaster. He said minutes after the rain, "we felt the tremor. As the children hurriedly tried to get out of the building, a portion of the staircase railing collapsed, injuring around eight students. All were taken to the sub-divisional hospital and provided treatment."

In Malda, injuries to students were reported from two schools.

In Cooch Behar, two students fell ill during the earthquake.

North Bengal development minister Gautam Deb was nearing Motihari, Bihar, to send quake relief to Nepal when the first quake struck. "I was about to reach Motihari when the tremors started," Deb said over phone.

Deb, asked whether he would stay today and hand over the relief materials tomorrow, said: "The relief trucks are on their way to Raxaul. We are in touch with Nepalese authorities and would hand over the relief materials to them by this evening." Raxaul is on the Indian border with Nepal.