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Two found alive 10 days after quake
BHUJ, India -- Two survivors have been pulled from the rubble of Bhuj, 10 days after India's worst quake but aid agencies say the chances of rescuing more are now considered remote at best. They were rescued after Border Security Force (BSF) troops clearing rubble in the town heard faint cries for help. The troops said the two were "hale and hearty" despite being buried under debris for 10 days. As reconstruction efforts begin Red Cross officials say the final death-toll from the devastating quake that hit the western state of Gujarat could be as high as 50,000.
Hundreds of thousands of survivors are believed to be without shelter and aid agencies say they are working with the Indian authorities to look at ways of providing accommodation to those left homeless. Some agencies say that without adequate provision of accommodation neighboring states could be swamped by a tide of migrant homeless, spreading that fallout from the quake further across the country. Indian authorities say they plan to erect tent cities for an estimated 500,000 homeless in the quake-shattered state. "They will have medical facilities, schools, shops, markets," Home Minister Haren Pandya said. "We need 150,000 tents at least. We would like the whole world to help," he added.
Power supplies are being restored to hundreds of villages in the western corner of the country and food, water and medical supplies continue to pour in from around the world.
But aid workers are concerned that a growing number of survivors are venturing back into cracked and weakened buildings. "People are still living in places where I wouldn't even send my team because they are so dangerous. Thousands of people are living in such places," said Colin Deiner, leader of the South African Urban Search and Rescue Team in the town of Bhuj. Mukesh Shah was one of many who risked their lives to get back to normal. "When it's time to die, it's time to die. Death is written by God," he said, when asked why he had reopened his small grocery store in a damaged multi-storey building in Bhuj. "I come from an upper middle class family and we lost everything. I would rather be dead than beg on the street," he said.
Defense Minister George Fernandes, visiting the ruins of the ancient town 135 km (83 miles) from the border with Pakistan, said he doubted a final death toll would ever be known.
Last week, Fernandes said the death toll from the quake, which measured 7.9 on the Richter scale, could reach 100,000. There have been fears that without access to safe drinking water there could be outbreaks of diseases such as dysentery, typhoid and cholera. But Gemini Pandya, spokeswoman for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said there were no signs of developing epidemics. "So far, in the work we have done, there is no sign of any epidemic," he said. "But if people are living outside in the open and there is no clean water, people's health will suffer." Federation spokesman Patrick Fuller said it was inevitable there would be a rise in diarrhea cases because of unsanitary conditions but "as yet we're not looking at an epidemic." Reuters contributed to this report. RELATED STORIES:
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