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Order collapses as India quake survivors seek food, water
BHUJ, India -- Relief flights arrived in India "from all corners of the world" bringing aid to survivors of Friday's earthquake, a spokesman for the International Red Cross said Tuesday. But a lack of organization has strained survivors' ability to cope.
Order collapsed outside Bhuj Tuesday as nearly 100 Indians from an outlying village lined a road to try to intercept relief trucks carrying emergency supplies. Many complained of not having food or water since Friday. The villagers were attacked by Indian military officials, said CNN's Satinder Bindra, who watched the scene unfold. "When people come out in search of food, the police scare them away," one villager told CNN. "They fire at us, beat us with sticks and call us thieves. All this while people are dying." And at least one warehouse was looted, with 500 bags of grain reported taken. "No one here has anything to eat. People are in trouble," another man told CNN. "We are begging the government to give us food, and if we don't get food people will start killing each other." Red Cross spokesman Patrick Fuller told CNN: "What is badly needed ... is some very good coordination. This is going to be a huge operation. It's a big responsibility for these state authorities here." Survival chance near zeroMeanwhile, officials said their chances of finding more survivors from the earthquake in the western state of Gujarat are near zero. The official death toll estimate is 23,000, but one official said that number could increase several fold. So far, more than 6,200 bodies have been unearthed. But they may represent a tiny percentage of the true toll. "If my worst fears come true, then the death toll could go as high as 100,000," said Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes. He based his revised estimate on an aerial tour and three-day visit to cities and towns near the epicenter of the 7.9-magnitude tremblor. In Bhuj, where 200,000 people had lived, "nothing is standing ... It is completely devastated," Fernandes said. "Hardly anyone could have managed to survive." In Anjar, where 100,000 people were living last week, "the whole town has been reduced to total rubble," Fernandes said. Similar devastation was reported in Bhachau, which had a population of 65,000. "If just these three major population centers really have most of their population under the debris, then the death toll could be ... very high," Fernandes said. 'There is total devastation'In Bhachau, a unit of the Indian army was providing assistance but their numbers were spread thin. Commandant Jashoraj Sinh was on the verge of tears as he spoke to a reporter. "Ninety percent of the town has been destroyed," he said. Sinh estimated more than 40,000 of the town's 65,000 people had died. "... There is total devastation. Not a single building is left standing which has not caught cracks or anything of that sort." Rescue workers kept up the dark task of digging into the debris of ruined buildings, but they called the search for survivors increasingly futile. The critical 100-hour-mark since the quake struck passed on Tuesday afternoon. "We talk about a limit of 100 hours, when after that the chances of finding someone alive drop dramatically," said Jochen Jakowski, the leader of a German rescue team in Anjar. "It is close to a world record if we find someone after 100 hours." A spokesman for a Swiss search and rescue team said his workers were still going at full strength in Ahmedabad, Gujarat's commercial center. However, they withdrew from Bhuj after failing to find any survivors there Tuesday.
Aid pouring inPakistan put aside its bitter rivalry with India on Tuesday and joined earthquake relief efforts, sending an air force plane filled with tents and blankets. Aid poured in from around the world: a 747 loaded with water purification equipment from the United States, a $500,000 mobile hospital from Denmark, three aircraft from the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, carrying more than 100 tons of supplies. A team of 30 international medical staff also began arriving -- surgeons, nurses, anesthesiologists and a trauma expert sent by the Finnish, Norwegian and German Red Cross societies. They will carry out amputations on some victims pulled from the debris and treat other injuries at the mobile hospital, which can care for up to 500 in-patients and 1,000 out-patients. It is being set up along with a warehouse outside Bhuj on a site the size of several football fields, the federation said. "When the hospital is up and running it will be dealing with a lot of survivors coming in with severe injuries -- amputations with infections or those who need further surgical treatment," said Dr. Hakan Sandbladh, the federation's emergency health coordinator.
'People are suffering'"I have come on a humanitarian mission," said Ilyas Khan, director of Pakistan's emergency relief agency, adding: "People are suffering." Pakistan, which has fought three wars with India and is locked in a nuclear Cold War with its rival, said a second relief plane would be sent Wednesday and a third on Thursday. Four other scheduled aid flights from around the world were delayed until Wednesday because of logistical difficulties. Five flights are now expected Wednesday and at least three Thursday. The World Health Organization (WHO) dismissed fears of disease outbreaks as bodies decomposed in the rubble and heat. "There are no diseases or epidemics associated with the presence of dead bodies," said WHO spokesman Greg Hartl. A few more miracles"The chances of finding someone are very, very slight, although we haven't given up hope entirely," Joachim Ahrens, spokesman for the Swiss Department of Development and Cooperation, said from Geneva. In the wreckage, however, there were a few miracles Tuesday. Among them was 16-year-old Ketan Rathod, pulled from the rubble alive in Anjar, where he was caught under concrete with his dead grandmother for 96 hours. And British experts pulled a 24-year-old man out of his destroyed home in Bhuj. James Brown, head of the British search and rescue team, said the successful recovery inspired the team to continue its efforts for at least another 24 hours. But workers in Anjar were also beginning to use heavy equipment to clear the debris -- a sign that they no longer fear injuring anyone still trapped alive. In Ahmedabad, soldiers used explosives to bring down teetering buildings. The stench of death was everywhere. Mourners wore face coverings as they watched victims be cremated; soldiers burned incense as they persevered in the grim work of looking for bodies. CNN Correspondent Satinder Bindra, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. RELATED STORIES: Rescue effort enters fifth frantic day RELATED SITES: U.S. Geological Survey |
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