SAHARSA DISTRICT, India — Indian authorities rushed doctors and medical equipment to flood-devastated northern India on Monday to ward off outbreaks of disease among the hundreds of thousands of victims crowding relief camps, officials said.
Nearly half of the 1.2 million people who were left homeless when the Kosi River burst its banks two weeks ago had been rescued by Monday, and officials said they hope to reach the rest in the next three days.
About 250,000 refugees were in government and relief agency camps, said a disaster management official in Bihar state. Many of the rest have taken shelter with families or friends.
With the numbers in the camps expected to nearly double, there were fears that the often unsanitary conditions could lead to outbreaks of diseases such as cholera.
