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Despatches from Gujarat: 'We saw death'

Sheela Bhatt in Bombay

"I thought the earth had cracked open and was about to swallow me. It was the most horrifying experience of my life, don't ask me to narrate more. Right now I am sitting in the compound, my home has collapsed in the earthquake," Vinubhai Sheth told rediff.com on the phone from his village, Khakhrichi, 100 km from Surat.

"I am a shopkeeper selling grains and other food items. My shop is also damaged. In just one day my world has been reduced to a shambles. Five people have died here, and we don't know if any more have died on the way to hospital."

According to Sheth, some 80 pc of the buildings in his village, which has a population of 4000, have collapsed, and at least 25 people have been severely injured. They have been taken to hospital in Morbi, some 35 km away, a taluk headquarters.

"Our village is a small one. Most of us are farmers, simple people, and unfailingly we attend the Republic Day function. That was what saved our lives today, all our children are safe because they were in the open maidan for the flag-hoisting ceremony."

Sheth himself was at home in the morning when he felt the earth move beneath his feet. "I was shocked .I rushed to the road. When I looked back, my home was still shaking. Out of sheer fright I fell down, and couldn't understand what was wrong with me. Like a child I crawled on to the road. After five minutes I got up and ran out of the village."

On the road there were many others like him. "I saw all my neighbours running away. We were not just nervous, we were frightened. Ame to mrityu joyu (we saw death). My brother saw some three, four persons dead on the way. We are still scared. You have called from far away but the government is not around to ask about our welfare. There is no help available. People are hiring tempos to ferry the injured. In my village alone five people have died."

Falguni Sheth, his niece told rediff.com, "Our village has been reduced to dust (dhulman mali gayu). I was having breakfast when I got up to drink water, and I felt the tremors. I don't know how to convince you about what we went through. Everywhere around me the destruction is total. Of course we are happy we are safe and alive.

"When the earthquake started I took my grandmother out of the house. We could not see a thing because the air was full of dust. Houses were collapsing, and at one time it was so dark. I looked I could not see my ba (mother) and grandmother for a few minutes, it was so scary. At present we are sitting in this compound, with just a telephone instrument, since our relatives are calling us up from Bombay. We returned here to talk to them. All the buildings around us are broken, demolished or damaged beyond repair."

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