Gujarat Govt issues red alert as state fears fresh tremors

Gujarat has still been experienceing a series of tremors, measuring 3.1-5.9 since the powerful quake on Friday. Tremors were experienced in Kutch, Ahmedabad and some other parts of Gujarat causing panic among the already affected people as international teams joined rescue and relief efforts two days after the worst earthquake that has claimed upto 20,000 lives, injured 50,000 and rendered lakhs homeless.

Keshubhai Patel told newsmen that the death-toll could be between 15,000 and 20,000 and it was difficult to give exact figures of the extent of loss of lives and damage to property.

While 15,000 people may have died in Bhuj alone, in the neighbouring Anjar taluk all the 400 children, caught in the rubble of collapsed buildings in a narrow lane were presumed dead. While eight children were rescued, four bodies have been retrieved, Patel said.

Similarly, ten children, buried under the rubble of their collapsed school in Maninagar suburb, were resecued along with 13 others in a nearby building. However, operations to rescue about 40 more children from the same school have been given up with the recovery of some bodies and no signs of life in the rubble.

So far, 6,072 bodies have been recovered in the state. Over 5,000 armymen were engaged in relief operations in Kutch and Ahmedabad, including in areas like Anjar, Morvi, Dhrul, Bacharu, Jodrian and Dharandara.

The air force continued relief operations evacuating more than 180 injured by helicopters.

Expert international teams with equipments from Britain, Russia, Switzerland and Turkey, were engaged in rescue operations and removal of debris in Bhuj and Ahmedabad looking for any sign of life. A 60-member Swiss team deployed nine sniffer dogs in the operations. The team rescued a woman and a child from the rubble of a collapsed building in a sattelite area near Ahmedabad.

Search and rescue experts from Turkey, which suffered a major quake less than two years ago, were among the first foreigners to arrive in Ahmedabad for help.

Rescuers dug through the rubble in a desperate search for survivors but there was little hope in many places. France is landing tonight two field hospitals with medical team of 46 people by its air force aircraft to help relief operations.

Patel said over 50,000 people have been injured of which 20,000 have been shifted to other cities for treatment. Surgeries have been done on 20,000 people.

He said the state has sought a Rs 500-crore Central assistance for tackling the situation. The Chief Minister also said there was fear of epidemic breaking out in Bhuj. In the commercial city of Ahmedabad, firewood has become scarce with the death-toll crossing 600 while pier-makers were out to make a fast buck charging twice the normal rates.