Earthquake aid pours into India

Rescuers use dogs to search for any more survivors

A huge international relief effort is beginning to make its presence felt as airlifted supplies reach areas worst-hit by the massive earthquake in India five days ago.

The focus is inexorably switching to clearing rubble and caring for people displaced and injured by the disaster, despite rescue teams finding several more trapped survivors.

Miraculous survivors

Jyotsnabhen Gandhi, 55, found in Ahmedabad after almost 118 hours

Niliniben Kumbhare, 25, and infant son, found after 100 hours

A 24-year-old man, found virtually uninjured after 103 hours

Parth Pradeep Joshi, a boy freed in a 12-hour rescue operation

The latest is a 55-year-old woman, Jyotsnabhen Gandhi, was pulled out of rubble in Ahmedabad at 0600 (00:30GMT) on Wednesday, almost 118 hours after the quake.

A British rescuer in Bhuj, the town close to the quake's epicentre, says there is little hope of finding anyone else alive.

"We think we'll give it one more day," Mark Thomas said, adding that people could not survive without water for five days.

The earthquake, which measured 7.9 on the Richter scale, flattened much of the north-western state of Gujarat and damaged buildings in neighbouring Pakistan.

Officials in the state of Gujarat say the death toll could reach 20,000 although other estimates have put the figure much higher.

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Conditions in the disaster zone remain grim, as thousands of homeless people require urgent assistance.

The BBC's Jill McGivering says that many people in Bhuj are living in makeshift shelters and food and clean drinking water are scarce.

Security forces are also on alert after reports of looting in some areas.

Hospitals destroyed

Many hospitals, badly damaged in the quake, are treating people in the open air and there is a shortage of medical supplies and doctors.

Many people are leaving the area

Three cargo planes of emergency materials sent by the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) arrived on Tuesday, and a makeshift hospital is expected to open on Wednesday morning.

Correspondents say the stench of death is everywhere and funeral pyres are burning continuously as the authorities race to prevent any outbreaks of disease.

Tens of thousands of people have fled Gujarat, as aftershocks continue. A railway official said people were heading for Bombay, Delhi and Rajasthan.

India's Defence Minister George Fernandes told the BBC the death toll could go as high as 100,000 - but later described that as a worst-case scenario.

International aid

Patrick Fuller, a representative of the IFRC, said that in devastated Bhuj the infrastructure was so poor that "effectively we have to set up a whole town the size of a football pitch".

Aid from rival Pakistan has arrived

The organisation has appealed for $15.45m to help the victims. Medical teams from organisations such as Medecins sans Frontieres are also on the scene.

Pakistan - India's traditional foe in the region - has sent a plane carrying thousands of tents and blankets to Gujarat. Pakistani officials say more flights are planned this week.

Many other countries, including the UK, Japan, Russia and Switzerland, are providing help, including search teams with sniffer dogs.