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Hope Fades for Finding Indian Earthquake Survivors
The threat of disease is bringing fresh fear to Gujarat as hope fades for finding more survivors of the earthquake that shattered the western Indian state six days ago.
"Twelve people were rescued alive from the debris on Wednesday. But there is very little hope for more ," Gujarat Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel told Reuters in Gandhidham town, adjoining India's busiest port of Kandla.
Officials said it could be months before Kandla resumed full operations.
Health and rescue officials said there was a real threat of illness bred by unhygienic conditions as workers raced to dig out decaying bodies and survivors camped for a sixth night under the stars.
"There's a risk people can get diarrhoeal diseases such as gastroenteritis, and water contaminated with bacteria can also cause typhoid and cholera," Red Cross official Patrick Fuller told Reuters.
Aid from around the world poured into Gujarat where the quake struck with brute force last Friday, claiming upwards of 24,000 lives.
Tens of thousands more people were believed injured and hundreds of thousands left homeless by the quake which registered a massive 7.9 on the Richter scale.
"We appeal to the world for help," Patel said.
About 20,000 Indian soldiers were joined by relief teams from Britain, France, Russia, Switzerland and Turkey. The United States sent a plane loaded with water purification equipment and even Pakistan airlifted tents and blankets.
In the village of Lodai, near the epicentre, a doctor reported nine people had fallen ill, probably from drinking contaminated water.
VILLAGERS SAY LACK SUPPLIES
Like many people in remote spots devastated by the quake, villagers in Lodai said the relief operation was not reaching them. Without shelter, they sat under the blazing sun by day and slept in the chilly streets by night.
"We get food but there is no water to drink. We have no shelter over our heads and it is very cold at night," laborer Haji Abdullah said.
The Red Cross said it had reports of people suffering from diarrhoea.
"It's inevitable in a situation like this when there is no running water, when you have kids playing in the rubble, the carcasses of animals and dead bodies are around," Fuller said.
Bhuj airport was a hive of activity as a succession of planes carrying generators, tents, tarpaulin sheets and mobile hospitals flew in.
At an emergency field hospital set up by the Israeli army in Bhuj, a baby girl born three months premature was fighting for her life.
Doctors appealed for a specially equipped helicopter with an incubator on board to fly the baby, nicknamed "Israela", to a hospital in Bombay for treatment.
"The risks are great," said Dr Jacob Kuint, who was looking after the tiny infant. "She can make it if she can be transferred to a place with all other facilities that we don't have."
Doctors said the baby, who weighed around 2lb (1 kg), was receiving intravenous fluids and antibiotics but ran a risk of infection in the makeshift hospital.
A 55-year-old woman was one of the handful pulled from the rubble in the main city of Ahmedabad on Wednesday. She was so badly injured doctors had to amputate both legs and one arm after her rescue and her survival was in doubt.
By late Wednesday, rescuers had all but abandoned hope of finding anyone else still alive.
ESTIMATES O? NUMBER O? DEAD VARY
Estimates of the number of dead varied as officials said no one knew yet how many people were buried under the carpet of rubble across the devastated state.
The state government estimated the death toll at 24,000 to 25,000. "Anything more than that looks quite exaggerated," said P.K. Laheri, principal secretary to Patel.
But that was far below Defense Minister George Fernandes' estimate of 100,000 earlier in the week which he called a worst-case scenario.
Bob McKerrow, from the International Red Cross, said reports from the region suggested a death toll of some 50,000.
Officials said they were making every effort to ensure food was distributed evenly and community kitchens were dishing out thousands of meals to the thousands of homeless.
"At present, as far as food and medical help are concerned in Bhuj, there is more than enough," said a government official, who asked not to be named.
"It's true that in the villages people are going hungry. But I can assure you that relief is now getting there," he said.
"There were some incidents of looting of food supplies, but now the situation is under control", Patel said.
(With additional reporting from John Chalmers and Maria Abraham in Bhuj and Naveen Thukral in Ahmedabad.
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