Hope For Quake Survivors Fades in India
A H M E D A B A D, India, Jan. 27 -- A day after an earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale rocked western India, hope of finding survivors among the mountains of rubble faded by the hour as the death toll was feared to have risen to as many as 15,000 people.
Earthquake blasts western India
Officials said today about 30,000 are reported injured and thousands more are thought to be buried under the rubble following the worst earthquake to hit the region in two centuries. So far, they said, at least 2,500 bodies have been recovered.
Rescue workers finally reached Bhuj today, the town nearest to the quake's epicenter, but no one can say for sure how many of the 150,000 people who lived there remain buried in the wreckage.
The quake hit India as the country was preparing to celebrate its 51st Republic Day. The holiday meant most people were home with their families, raising the death toll considerably, officials said.
Ahmedabad, farther south of the epicenter, has a population of 5 million — many who lived and worked in shoddily constructed buildings that crumpled like paper in the quake.
In the heart of the city was a middle school named Sacred Flower. The school was closed for classes yesterday except for one group of students called in by a dedicated teacher. Forty of the children are confirmed dead so far. Parents are waiting desperately for news of the others.
One parent said rescue workers could hear the children Friday afternoon under the debris, but today there was only silence.
Another family had been preparing for a wedding celebration when the quake struck just before 9 a.m. local time Friday. Now they are planning funerals and, like thousands of others, mourning the loss of loved ones. Among those killed were the groom and his mother.
Thousands Missing, Many More Homeless
On Friday, Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee declared a state of emergency in the western state of Gujarat, the region worst hit by the quake. Today he said on Monday he will visit the devastated area, where more than 30,000 people are now homeless.
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