Army sends in 800 troops for rescue operations at Morbi

New Delhi, October 31

The Army has sent in nearly 800 troops, including infantry, the engineer task force and doctors, for relief operations at Morbi.

Of them, nearly 300 personnel were deployed in the search and rescue operations at the site. Equipped with engineering equipment, Army columns are assisting the NDRF, the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), the Navy and the Coast Guard in the rescue efforts, besides assisting civil administration and police in crowd management. Four medical columns are assisting in the treatment of survivors at three hospitals.

Sources said the Army was also assisting the civil administration and other agencies in the retrieval of the remaining bodies. Five NDRF teams, six platoons of the SDRF, a team of the IAF and two teams of the Navy were also involved in the rescue.

The operations continued through the night on Sunday and Monday and efforts were still on to look for survivors, though the possibility of finding any was bleak, said a rescue team official.