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The workers were locked in because the managers thought they may run away with the diamonds!

Sheela Bhatt at the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad

The Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad claims it is the biggest in India with 2,000 beds. More than 40 injured patients lay in one ward on Friday. This ward saw many more casualties in 1989, but they were victims of the cruelty of communal minds.

Friday was a different day.

They were, as one patient murmured, victims of "Mother Nature."

Frail Sharda Panchal is making an effort to come to terms with reality. "Things happened without notice," she says. "We never knew, never imagined a death due to an earthquake." She has not had the courage to inform her sister that her elder son Sugam is dead. "Sugam's father Paresh took possession of Sugam's body," Shardaben said, "My sister was bathing when her home shook. She was so frightened she rushed out. She picked up one son in a hurry. Maybe, she didn't see Sugam, he was crushed under the debris."

The hospital has admitted 135 injured patients since 0900 hours on Friday morning, of whom 50 are dead.

Said Sanjay Patel, who has been helping the injured since the morning, "Just two minutes of an earthquake killed so many." The biggest casualties have been reported in Ahmedabad's labour areas, Bapunagar and Ranip.

Dr Paresh Shah at the emergency room told rediff.com, "Most of the patients have polytrauma. They have more than one injury. Head, hand, abdominal and leg injuries are common. They have fractured all possible part of the body. Since many rushed out in a hurry, they were injured because of the rush." Dr Shah's home in the Satellite area was damaged in Friday morning's earthquake.

"Homes have collapsed and injured people's heads. We have operated on some 4,5 seriously injured patients. Some 80 minor surgeries have been performed in the last eight hours," surgeon Dr Keyur Chawda said.

Bharat, 19, works at a diamond factory. His mother Chandaben sells vegetables in the Bapunagar area. Says she, "When the earthquake started, the factory's managers shut the doors. Workers on the third and fourth floors were trapped. They were locked in because the managers thought they may run away with the diamonds!"

Four workers died when they leapt from the higher storeys. More than 30 others were injured. The factory's staircase was cracked in the disaster and could not be used, so the young workers used every method they could think of to escape.

"A thousand diamond cutters, most of whom are below 25, work at the factory," Bharat told rediff.com "People tied sarees to the windows and came down, some were rescued by the fire brigade. Some broke the windows and leapt out. Rohit Patni, Somabhai Patni and Vijaybhai died when they jumped out."

Adds Chandaben, "People were afraid. They wanted to save their lives so they jumped without thinking. Even huge trees shook. My own legs were alien to me. We have never seen such things."

Dr Anil Chadha, the hospital's medical superintendent, told rediff.com, "What we witnessed today is the triumph of human willpower. Many have not died because they rushed out to save their lives. Those who got injured were helped by so many people. At our hospital doctors and nurses came on their own. Social workers arrived with their assistants. Five hundred people are around to help the victims. Nobody has had a chance to think what happened, but things got organised on its own."

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EXTERNAL LINKS
The RD Killer Quake of Jan 26, 2001: Technical details
A post-quake volunteer's unusual tryst with the departed
All about earthquakes in India and their impact
India Meteorological Department's earthquake reports
Disaster relief set-up in India
Major earthquakes across the world in recent times
Earthquake News: Web site offering comprehensive news, information and features
Earthquake site map

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