BANGALORE, India; Jan. 26 2001 — "In one minute [the staff] found that the ground floor and the first floor had gone inside the earth."
Staff of the Bible Society of India (BSI) attending a conference in a town east of Ahmedabad had a miraculous escape when two floors of their hotel venue collapsed. The Bible House in Ahmedabad, was badly damaged in the earthquake which devastated India's western state of Gujarat on Friday.
The earthquake was the worst to hit India for decades. With its epicentre near the city of Bhuj, it measured 7.9 on the Richter scale and was felt across the Indian sub-continent. India's defence minister has been quoted as saying that the final death toll could be as high as 100,000.
On hearing the first news of the earthquake, Dr B K Pramanik, the General Secretary of the BSI, managed to make contact by telephone with the Rev N G Parmar, the Secretary of the Gujarat Auxiliary.
"I was shocked to know there has been extensive damage to the Bible House but through God's grace there is no loss of life of any of my colleagues in the Gujarat Auxiliary," said Dr Pramanik. Other members of staff to whom he had spoken were in a considerable state of panic. "Some of them were so shocked that they could not talk to me but were crying," he said.
The earthquake occurred at about 9 a.m. on Friday morning. At the time, 50 or so people were attending a three-day Christian conference in the town of Gandhiham, east of Ahmedabad. They included local Bible Society officials, church leaders and representatives of Operation Mobilisation.
When it struck, Mr Parmar and the Rt Rev V M Malaviya, Bishop of Gujarat and Vice President of the BSI, were on their way to the conference, where they were due to launch an audio cassette of Scripture Portions and songs the following day. They arrived to find the hotel, which was the conference venue, had collapsed but the people attending it had had a miraculous escape.
"At 8 a.m. the participants took their breakfast on the ground floor and went to the second floor for the conference, which was to start at 9 a.m.," Dr Pramanik recounted. "They were about to start the conference when the earthquake rocked the city.
"At 8 a.m. the participants took their breakfast on the ground floor and went to the second floor for the conference, which was to start at 9 a.m.," Dr Pramanik recounted. "They were about to start the conference when the earthquake rocked the city.
"In one minute the participants found that the ground floor and the first floor had gone inside the earth and the second floor had become the ground floor. They immediately rushed out of the hotel. Not a single participant [in the conference] was hurt or wounded, but all those on the ground and first floors were buried alive."
In the early hours of Sunday Mr Parmar and Bishop Malaviya returned to Ahmedabad to find that the Bible House, which is not only the office of the Gujarat Auxiliary but the home of the Secretary and his family, had also been severely damaged.
As January 26 was Republic Day, the office was closed when the earthquake struck, but Mrs Parmar and the couple's two daughters were at home when it happened and were thrown about by the force of the tremor. "They are shocked but have recovered now," said Dr Pramanik.
A series of fresh tremors centred on the same region last weekend forced even those people whose houses were still standing to leave them.
On Sunday the police asked the Auxiliary Secretary and his family to leave the Bible House because of the probability of another "major earthquake".
In an e-mail to the Rev Fergus Macdonald, General Secretary of the UBS, Dr Pramanik said he was going to Ahmedabad yesterday (Monday) "to encourage and strengthen my colleagues and to assess the Scripture needs and the damage to the Bible House".
Earlier Mr Macdonald had assured him of UBS support for the distribution of Scriptures to the injured and bereaved and for the restoration of the Bible House in Ahmedabad. He said he was "appalled" by the devastating news from Gujarat, but relieved to learn that BSI staff were safe.
Dr Pramanik said that many national Bible Societies had pledged prayer support . The Rev Dr Robert Cunville, a former President of the BSI, had also sent a gift towards the cost of repairs of the Bible House, he added.
Meanwhile, the fear of further earthquakes across India remains very real. On Monday, the city of Bangalore, where the offices of BSI are located, was among several areas of the country where tremors caused panic. One, measuring a relatively mild 4.3 on the Richter scale, rippled across the city for a few seconds at around 8 a.m.
In an e-mail three hours later, Dr Pramanik said schools and colleges were immediately closed, high rise buildings and offices were evacuated and, for a time, chaos ensued. "Fortunately nothing serious has happened," he added.
David Thorne, the UBS Regional Secretary for the UBS Indo-Pacific Region, asked colleagues in the fellowship to pray for BSI staff as they attempt to help in the communities devastated by the main earthquake.
Compiled with reports from the United Bible Societies.
|
