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Rescues raise quake hopes as PM visits
BHUJ, India -- Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee arrived in Bhuj, the town worst hit by last week's devastating quake, as remarkable rescues continued to lift the hopes of rescue teams. Vajpayee visited the ancient coastal town of Bhuj on Monday, one day after asking for at least $1.5 billion in aid and loans to begin reconstruction. The official death toll following the quake has risen to 11,000 with at least 32,000 injured and thousands still missing. However, India's Defense Minister, George Fernandes, has said reports from government officials indicate that as many as 20,000 could have been killed. Vajpayee was also to visit nearby Ahmedabad, where the open courtyard of Ahmedabad's biggest hospital resembled a makeshift ward in a battle zone.
A spate of overnight rescues lifted the hopes of rescuers. At least eight people -- including a four-year-old girl -- have been pulled out alive from the rubble of Friday's earthquake by rescue teams. Doctors say the four-year-old girl is doing "just fine" after being trapped for four days in the debris. CNN's New Delhi correspondent Satinder Bindra said the girl asked for an ice cream cone and a doll to play with when a Swiss rescue team pulled her from the rubble. She is drinking, talking and can even stand up, he added. She was calling out for her mother and father during the rescue operation. Her parents are believed to have been killed when their home collapsed. He said the girl's rescue was one of eight by a Swiss team who arrived in the town of Bhuj, the epicenter of India's worst quake in 50 years, late on Sunday. "We are seeing some remarkable scenes of joy, tinged with a lot of sadness," he added. Another man rescued was clutching the hand of his wife, but she had died when the earthquake hit on Friday. Nearby was the body of their two-day-old baby. The Swiss team has brought in ten tons of sophisticated cutting and lifting equipment, with sniffer dogs and heat seeking devices, and a team of 60 rescue experts.
A search began for hundreds of British nationals thought to have been in the state when Friday's deadly earthquake struck. Gujarat has strong cultural and commercial ties with Britain, leading the British high commission in New Delhi to believe that several hundred British nationals remain in the region. One British citizen is confirmed to have been killed by the quake, which registered 7.9 on the Richter scale, however scores more remain unaccounted for.
India was in talks with the World Bank and other agencies this week for $1.5 billion in aid to rebuild in Gujarat state. Already teams from Switzerland, Britain, Russia and Israel have arrived while a seven-member U.S. disaster response team is expected top arrive Monday. Further aid has been promised from around the globe, with even India's arch-rival Pakistan offering support. The United States government says its disaster response team is part of $5 million in aid it has pledged to help India recover.
Patrick Fuller, head of the International Red Cross in India told CNN's Nic Robertson that international aid is shifting from rescue efforts to getting relief to thousands left homeless or injured by the quake. "The situation in the outlying areas and villages is still very unclear and information about the level of destruction and the number of casualties is still trickling in, he said. "There appears to be plenty of doctors in place, but there is still a need for more medical supplies." One of the first doctors on the scene was Dr. Gautam Lahiri who performed 50 operations in the first 12 hours after the quake struck. He says he was completely overwhelmed by the magnitude of the needs. "They were basically trying to touch me, pull me in their direction. 'Do my case first. Why are you not taking my child first?'" he said. Army surgeons in Bhuj have performed more than 1,000 operations in the open, including at least 200 amputations and hundreds involving skull injuries and crushed bones.
If the defense minister's predictions of more than 20,000 dead are confirmed, the toll would outstrip the numbers killed in the massive quake in Turkey in 1999, when almost more than 18,000 died. Friday's quake struck on Republic Day, a national holiday when many people were at home enjoying a day off work with their families. The effects of the quake were felt for more than 1,200 miles (1,930 km), but it hit hardest in Gujarat state. In Ahmedabad alone, 40 to 50 high-rise buildings were toppled by the quake and some 14,000 people, mostly suffering broken bones and cuts, have jammed the city's hospitals. Once a prosperous town of 150,000, Bhuj -- in India's Gujarat state -- has been almost completely flattened. Rescuers are using everything from high-tech equipment to their bare hands to detect the tiniest vibrations that might indicate survivors buried under piles of rubble and debris. As rescue work ground on into a third straight day, relatives of the thousands missing remain huddled around what remains of their homes. "I want my son back. Why can't they do something?" cried one survivor whose 16-year old child was buried somewhere under the rubble.
Other survivors have been blaming the authorities for failing to enforce construction standards, with many saying help from the government was too slow in coming when the quake first hit. In the city of Ahmedabad, local residents said it was left to them to launch the rescue effort. "We private citizens have arranged for this single crane," said Ashok Patel, a bank manager. "We need at least another two cranes, but who will listen to us?" Most Gujarat state officials were attending a military parade for Republic Day on Friday, a commemoration of the adoption of India's constitution in 1950. "We lost precious hours soon after the earthquake," said survivor Dhrumal Vaidya. "Every state government officer we called was away at a parade. Even police came six hours after the quake." However, Gujarat Chief minister Keshubahi Patel has rejected the criticisms level against his officials. "I organized the officials at the parade itself and we got down to work. But an earthquake is not a cyclone," he said. "We were not forewarned." Since the quake struck, funeral pyres have been burning night and day, with dazed survivors sleeping outside in fear of more aftershocks. Officials say further strong tremors could last for at least a few more days, bringing down buildings already weakened by the quake. On Sunday, an aftershock with a magnitude of 6 sent many running into the streets fearing a repeat of Friday's horror. It was the largest of nearly 300 aftershocks so far. The Associated Press & Reuters contributed to this report. RELATED STORIES: U.S. pledges $5 million in aid relief RELATED SITES: U.S. Geological Survey |
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