100,000 May Have Died in Quake: Indian Defence Minister

100,000 May Have Died in Indian Quake

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Up to 100,000 peoople may have died in the earthquake last week in India, the country's defence minister told the BBC late Monday.

George Fernandes also said that the massive earthquake in the western state on Gujarat had injured up to 200,000 people.

Previous estimates put the death toll at 20,000 people.

Fernandes was speaking to the BBC Newsnight programme and his comments were reported on the BBC's Ceefax text service.

The British government had given an estimate on Monday that half a million people had been made homeless and 50,000 injured.

Britain said on Monday it was giving a total of 10 million pounds ($14.6 million) towards the emergency relief effort for areas devastated in the earthquake, upping the previous contribution of three million pounds as the scale of the disaster became apparent.

Prime Minister Tony Blair and Queen Elizabeth II have sent messages of condolence to the Indian government.