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Quake survivor found as India recoups
BHUJ, India -- Survivors reopened roadside stalls and crews stepped up demolition work after India's worst quake, even as fresh tremors sparked fresh panic among residents. Meanwhile, seventeen-year-old Arjun Bhai was found on Saturday by neighbors and pulled out unscathed from a village well in Sikaravadi, 13 km (eight miles) from Bachchau, after surviving for eight days.
In the shadow of fresh tremors on Saturday, stalls reopened for the first time in nine days and wrecking crews stepped up work on scores of quake-weakened apartments and offices, as police pursued investigations into complaints of shoddy construction. The worst earthquake in the country's history has directly or indirectly affected 35 million people, destroying 73,000 homes in 1,000 villages, the government said Saturday. The official death toll from the quake now stands at well over 15,000 with more than 55,000 people injured, though state officials have estimated at least 30,000 people may have died in the earthquake measuring 7.9. (An aerial view of the epicenter.) Many people are still sleeping on the streets without any tents, and without any blankets. The Gujarat state government has estimated the financial loss from the quake at 208.75 billion rupees ($4.5 billion), but warned this could rise as more information trickled in. Fresh tremors spark fearAn aftershock with a force of 5.0 created fresh panic in Gujarat state on Saturday. Fresh tremors sent workers running out of offices and into the open. "The whole area shook and people ran out of office buildings," said a Reuters reporter in Kandla, the country's busiest port, which resumed some operations for the first time since the January earthquake. There were no immediate reports of casualties. Witnesses in Bhuj, the town worst affected in the quake that killed an estimated 30,000 people across the western state of Gujarat, also said they felt a fresh tremor -- one of 152 which officials say have hit the town since January 26. Survivors spent their ninth night in the open, afraid to return to what is left of their homes while hundreds of thousands of others are facing years of living in tent cities.
Aid agencies say there is a now serious risk of epidemics from water contaminated by the thousands of dead bodies still lying under the rubble of collapsed buildings. No major outbreaks of disease have been reported yet, but agencies say malaria, cholera and severe diarrhea could rapidly spread through the crowded survivors' camps, which have little or no running water or toilets. There are also increasing reports of respiratory problems in the young and old, the result of being forced to sleep out overnight when temperatures drop dramatically. Officials in Gujarat state, which bore the brunt of the quake's devastation, say the region was already suffering from the effects of a severe drought adding to the health risks posed by contaminated water. To help halt the spread of disease, Indian wrecking crews stepped up work on quake-weakened apartment and office complexes in Gujarat on Sunday as authorities declared 90 buildings in Ahmedabad unsafe. The buildings -- some just a few months old -- include residential and business towers. Emergency aid reaches survivorsThe first of seven U.S. Air Force C-17 cargo planes carrying supplies and equipment arrived in Ahmedabad on Saturday morning. U.S. officials say one of the major bottlenecks hampering the flow of relief to quake victims has been a lack of people to take the goods off planes, but the aircraft carried support personnel.
A British emergency aid flight with more than 36 tons of supplies on board also left London on Saturday. The British Airways flight carried aid workers as well as tents, clothing, blankets, plastic sheeting and medical equipment. The Indian army has been praised for its help in distributing aid in one of the country's most militarily sensitive areas -- equipment such as two-way radio are usually banned. "The military has been extraordinary here. They have bent over backwards for us," William Berger, regional adviser for the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance, said. The earthquake zone borders the Rann of Kutch, through which the border with Pakistan runs. The area often floods and both sides dispute where the border actually is. New Delhi: Underpining by politiciansIn New Delhi, leaders of political groups closed ranks behind the government of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.
At a meeting called by Vajpayee to discuss relief operations, they said the earthquake was a major calamity and offered help in tackling what they described as the country's worst natural disaster. "We will do everything we can to help in rescue, rehabilitation in Gujarat," Congress leader Manmohan Singh quoted party leader Sonia Gandhi as saying. Vajpayee called off a planned trip to Japan and Malaysia next week. Cabinet spokesman Pramod Mahajan, who is also information technology minister, said the government would soon bring in legislation making it mandatory for all buildings to prove they were quake proof before they were occupied. He said the government had learnt many lessons from the earthquake in Gujarat and was planning a national disaster system to meet future contingencies. The Associated Press & Reuters contributed to this report. RELATED STORY:
Tremors spark fear in India RELATED SITES:
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