A TO Z INDIA ● FEBRUARY 2022 ● PAGE 11
Day 26 January 2001 :
The Black day of Gujarat
Dwarak
On this day in 2001 , sirens wailed and traffic came to a standstill and people observed two minute-silence a total of 184 students , 18 teachers and two police constables were killed at the chowk when the quake rocked Gujarat claiming over 18,000 lives , rendering lakhs homeless and flattening several towns .
The massive earthquake killed between 14 000 and 20 000 people , damaged over 1.2 million houses , and affected almost 8000 villages in Gujarat , west India . More than 3000 health facilities were destroyed , including a 281 bed district hospital , a 16 bed mental hospital at Bhuj , and 239 health centres . as the clock struck 8.46 am , the time when the killer quake struck .