India's defence minister said the death toll from the country's worst earthquake could be as high as 100,000 and the number of injured may be double that.
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The search for survivors
entered its fifth day. |
But officials in the western state of Gujarat - the area worst hit by Friday's quake - said they doubted the figure was that high.
A spokesman for Prime Minister Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee said it was too early to tell what the final toll might be.
Homeless people in shattered towns and villages across Gujarat spent a fourth night in the open, some beside white bundles containing bodies awaiting cremation.
Others waited to ensure a proper cremation for dead loved ones still trapped under rubble.
Rescue workers plucked two boys and a 90-year-old woman alive from the debris in Bhuj yesterday but hopes were fading of finding more survivors as the stench of rotting bodies raised concerns about disease.
Reuters