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US plane arrives with relief materials

A US cargo plane with 100 tons of relief supplies for victims of the Gujarat earthquake arrived in Delhi Tuesday morning as Israel announced that it was dispatching an entire field hospital to Bhuj.

A US embassy spokesman said supplies including blankets, tents, plastic sheeting, water containers, purification and distribution kits and generators were in the process of being moved to the affected areas.

About 8,000 families are expected to benefit from this relief material.

US President George Bush has written to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to share his concern over the calamity, US Ambassador to India Richard F Celeste told reporters.

The US Agency for International Development has sanctioned five million dollars for relief in the quake hit areas of Gujarat as more countries including China and Australia came out in offering humanitarian aid to India. Dogs had also been pressed into service to trace missing people.

Israeli Ambassador to India David Aphek and the Consul General in Mumbai Dov Segev-Steinberg are operating in the area of the disaster.

Another emergency medical team from Japan also arrived Tuesday. Emergency assistance worth about Rs 40 million has already been announced by the mission.

Israeli President Moshe Katzav, Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami have sent messages to the Indian government, expressing condolence and their government's readiness to extend all possible assistance.

Celeste said under instructions from President Bush, he had been authorised to increase contribution from $ 25,000 dollars to $ 100,000 to the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund.

A seven-member USAID disaster assistance response team also arrived Monday to assist in the relief operations.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell and key officials of the Bush administration were being kept briefed of the situation, he said.

The Complete Coverage | List of earthquake sites

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