Quake rescuers save another life
British rescuers have pulled a seventh survivor from the rubble of the Indian earthquake five days after the disaster which it is feared could claim 100,000 lives.
Volunteers dug the 24-year-old man out of a void inside his collapsed home in the stricken town of Bhuj after using a sensor to pick up vibrations below ground.
Gary O’Shea, spokesman for the International Rescue Corps team, said there was ‘‘not a mark’’ on him.
‘‘He was perfectly well - he is now helping the rescue team locate the rest of his family. At the moment we are chuffed to bits here.’’
The rescue follows the dramatic recovery of a 10-year-old boy by a British team overnight.
The volunteers from Rapid-UK found the boy alive, but his brother was already dead and his mother died beside him before she could be pulled free.
The boy’s lower leg was so mangled it had to be amputated later at a military hospital.
Many rescue teams are now preparing to scale down the hunt for survivors.
Indian defence minister George Fernandez said that as many as 200,000 were injured in Friday’s quake and up to 500,000 are thought to have been made homeless.
International Development Secretary Clare Short announced Britain would be sending a total of £10 million in aid.
The DfID was sending four aircraft carrying 1,200 tents, plastic sheeting and trauma equipment.
Pakistan has also agreed to send aid to the earthquake victims of India, its long-time arch rival.
Pakistani officials said a C-130 transport plane would leave Rawalpindi with about 13 tons of relief goods consisting of 200 tents and 2,500 blankets.
The British Red Cross is running a major public appeal for £500,000 to help fund its activities in the earthquake zone.
A plane carrying 40 metric tonnes of emergency relief equipment will fly from Stansted to Bhuj tomorrow night packed with a logistics emergency response unit (ERU), 8,300 blankets, 200 large tents, 1,000 tarpaulins and 1,200 water containers.
