Fresh tremors in Gujarat with up to 11,000 feared killed

Officials said there were no reports so far of damage from the latest tremors, reportedly of mild to moderate intensity. They confirmed about 7,000 deaths including 6,000 in the worst-hit Bhuj area but state Home Minister Haren Pandya said the toll was feared to be well over 10,000. Media reports quoting officials said over 180 tremors were reported in the worst-hit Bhuj area with intensity of 3 to 5.6 on the Richter scale. They said the tremors could affect rescue operations.

These were desperately going ahead in the entire affected area as relief workers searched through mountains of rubble in towns and villages across the state, with more and more bodies discovered. Officials said a clearer picture would emerge with the restoration of telecommunication links to Bhuj area, where the quake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale had its epicentre. Bhuj remains cut off by road and rail from the rest of the country and the only approach to it is through air force helicopters.

An estimated 10,000 of the dead were reported from Kutch district where Bhuj is located, Indian media reports said. The Zee news television channel said some 450 children were feared trapped under the debris of a school building in Bhuj. Among those killed were over 150 airmen and their family members at the Indian Air Force base in Kutch which was wrecked by the quake. The base was however hurriedly put in order to enable rescue helicopters and planes to land. An Indian Air Force spokesman in New Delhi said over 40 transport planes and helicopters have been pressed into service.

Officials said there was little or no hope for thousands buried under debris in many areas. Television reports said the stench of rotting bodies was already coming from the debris in many areas. Pandya said armed forces and paramilitary troopers joined the rescue operations, but the disaster was so great that many areas could not be covered by relief workers. In isolated areas where relief had yet to reach, people were using bare hands and sticks to dig out victims buried under rubble.

Thousands across the state rendered homeless by the quake, which sent buildings tumbling like ninepins, spent a dark, chilly night in the open as the quake cut off power, water and telecommunications. People in Ahmedabad, the state's largest city, complained that rescue efforts were tardy and relief teams and equipment did not reach many areas there. They said the rescue work going on was mainly due to the dedicated efforts of voluntary organizations.

Television pictures showed crying parents near the ruins of a school in Ahmedabad under which many children were trapped. Friday was the country's Republic Day, and although a holiday the children had gone to school to participate in the celebrations. Television reports said the people there were totally dependent on an emergency air force hospital, as the city's main hospital had collapsed.

Army and air force doctors were working round the clock, but a large number of injured were forced to go to nearby Rajkot as the hospital was not equipped to handle a large number of patients. The earthquake hit at about 9 a.m. local time on Friday, as many people - especially women and children - were still inside their homes having a leisurely morning on the Republic Day holiday. The quake was felt 1,500 kilometres away in Pakistan, with shocks reaching Bombay in the west, New Delhi in the north, Calcutta in the east and Madras in the south. The quake was felt as far away as Greece and Ohio, in the United States.

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee asked the country for volunteers and charity contributions to help rescue, relief and rehabilitation operations in Gujarat, the state hardest hit. "As has been our proud tradition, in all such times of natural calamity, it is the duty of one and all to come to the aid of our brethren in Gujarat and other quake-hit areas," he said. Offers of aid poured in from the international community, but there was no response from the government as of late Friday. Switzerland was sending rescue workers with sniffer dogs and Japan was also despatching a team of rescuers with relief supplies.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said: "Until the Indians get to us to say what they need and they want, we won't be mobilizing." The Indian government began airlifting 10,000 tons of food and 10,000 tents. Teams of private and military doctors rushed to Gujarat, and the Red Cross was scrambling to transport blood from other parts of the country, the Times reported. Union Parliamentary affairs minister Pramod Mahajan indicated that the country's nuclear power plants were safe.

People in other parts of the country and overseas spent a tense day awaiting news from relatives in Gujarat, as the quake disrupted communication links. "I have been trying since 10 in the morning, and still I am not able to reach my husband," a Delhi schoolteacher who lives alone with her two children said in a choked voice.

Friday's quake was the largest in India since a magnitude 8.6 tremor hit northeastern Assam in 1950. Friday's epicentre was in a remote desert plateau, officials said. Kutch and Bhuj near the epicentre reported large numbers of casualties. Deaths were also reported in Rajkot, Surendranagar, Surat, Banaskantha, Porbandar, Jamnagar, Patan, Bharuch, Navasari, Gandhinagar and Junagadh.

(la/dpa)