AHMEDABAD, India — Rescuers pulled survivors from the wreckage of India's earthquake just before bulldozers began to arrive Wednesday as the government of Gujarat state said 12,000 bodies had been recovered and the death toll was likely to reach 25,000.
The estimate is based on the number of bodies recovered, those reported missing, the estimated number still lying under debris and reports gathered by government agencies, said Haren Pandya, home minister of Gujarat.
"The figure I am giving you today is the closest to the truth," Pandya said, announcing the higher numbers an hour after the state's emergency control room had said 7,162 bodies had been found.
Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes on Wednesday maintained that more than 100,000 had died, but Pandya said the state assessment was much lower.
The increased numbers came as several rescue teams found people alive in the rubble of buildings just as bulldozers began smashing walls and experts laid explosives to clear away the rubble.
A Russian rescue team in the town of Bhachau heard a woman screaming after a bulldozer smashed the wall of her three-story apartment building. The Russians found the woman's hand under a flattened concrete slab and held onto it until they pulled Kuntal Thakkar, 22, free. Then they freed her husband.
In Bhuj, closest to the epicenter of the 7.9 earthquake, an army team rescued a 12-year-old girl named Viyanka and rushed her to the hospital.
A demolition team hammering its way through a destroyed apartment block in Ahmedabad discovered Joytosna Gandhi still alive more than five days after the earthquake tore through the western Indian state.
Gandhi was discovered next to the body of her son just as workers had all but given up hope of finding survivors and were beginning to knock down damaged buildings and clear away the wreckage.
The condition of the 55-year-old woman testified to the slim chances of surviving for five days under a collapsed building. Both her legs and one hand had been crushed by concrete beams and had to be amputated, doctors said. She was in critical condition with kidney trouble.
"I don't know how she stayed alive with her dead son next to her," said Promila Ranadive, a neighbor.
As the quake effort switched from rescue to relief, India faced expanding needs for food, clothing and shelter for survivors. The United Nations estimated there are 200,000 homeless in the western state of Gujarat where the quake did most of its damage.
Aftershocks jolted the quake zone early Wednesday, raising fears that more buildings could topple.
Countries and groups poured in aid as foreign rescue teams made their last rounds with trained dogs and seismographs before heading home. A U.N. World Food Program flight with 41 tons of cargo, including health kits and generators, left for India on Tuesday. Another flight was to leave on Thursday. Pakistan, with whom India has fought three wars, sent its second military plane in two days to Ahmedabad, loaded with tents and blankets.
In Bhuj, volunteers from Germany, Finland, Belgium, India and the United States were working on a huge Red Cross field hospital with 310 beds and the capacity to treat up to 2,000 walk-in patients a day.
India's Meteorological Department reported the strongest of the aftershocks at preliminary magnitude of 4.5. There were no reports of new injuries or damage. Special trains for people fleeing the region were scheduled to depart Ahmedabad on Wednesday afternoon.
Among the luckiest survivors were the 800 people in a tent city in an open-air theater in Bhuj. With food from aid groups, neighbors have organized kitchens to feed tent-dwellers and thousands of others still living in the streets.
Conditions, however, were grim. People were crowded under tents with sheets spread over the bare earth. Though food and drink were available, no sanitation system had been set up.
Bharpi Thakkar, 42, huddled with her parents, three children, and four other families under a tent.
"We haven't had a chance to think about the future," she said, sipping tea. "The challenge now is to deal with the present."
Despite the dramatic rescues, hope of finding more survivors largely dried up Wednesday. Demolition crews using dynamite began clearing away the shells of damaged buildings and homes. In Ahmedabad, engineers wearing motorcycle helmets for protection broke up slabs of concrete with sledgehammers and crowbars. Clouds of dust rose into the air as bulldozers moved into the ruins.
"In most places we've used a small quantity of plastic explosives to pull down the more dangerously balanced parts," said Col. Rajat Raftogi, of the army engineering corps. "It's a delicate operation which needs very careful handling."
Trucks moved into town carrying large cranes and bulldozers. Wood was piled high along the sides of the roads in anticipation of further funeral pyres. At the Bhuj airport, workers put bodies into coffins on the runway, presumably for transport to other parts of India.
The focus moved firmly Wednesday to the needs of survivors. Kenzo Oshima, U.N. undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, said Tuesday in New York that about 200,000 people were homeless.
A U.N. disaster assessment team is working with the Indian government to coordinate international assistance teams, he said.
Total damage from the quake has been estimated at up to $5.5 billion.