The Japanese government decided Monday to dispatch a medical team to India to provide emergency aid to victims of last week's earthquake, the Foreign Ministry said.

The team is scheduled to depart today with medical equipment and supplies for a stay expected to last about two weeks, the ministry said.

A powerful quake hit India's western state of Gujarat on Friday, killing more than 6,000 people and injuring some 14,500 others as of Sunday afternoon. It damaged residences, buildings and infrastructure.

Japan has also decided to provide emergency aid to India worth 103.5 million yen, government officials said, adding that the assistance comprises $700,000 in grants-in-aid and materials worth 30 million yen.

In a related development, a 12-member medical team of the Japanese Red Cross Society that departed on Saturday began working on Monday with Bangladesh-based members of the society.

Four unaccounted for

Four Japanese remain unaccounted for in Gujarat following a massive earthquake that shook the Indian state Friday, according to the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo.

The ministry said Monday that the Japanese Embassy in India has confirmed that 23 of the 24 long-term Japanese residents of Gujarat are safe. It has also confirmed the safety of 16 of 19 Japanese who are visiting there.

Kobe earthquake forum

KOBE (Kyodo) A three-day international forum opened in Kobe on Monday to discuss ways to minimize earthquake damage, particularly in developing countries.

The International Workshop on an Earthquake Safer World in the 21st Century drew some 70 officials and experts from Japan and 14 other countries to Kobe's International Conference Center.

The forum included participants from India, where the death toll from Friday's massive earthquake in the state of Gujarat is expected to reach 20,000, and from Turkey, another quake-prone country.

Participants will share their countries' experiences of dealing with major quakes and discuss disaster education programs implemented in some developing countries by the U.N. Center for Regional Development. They also plan to discuss a method proposed by the UNCRD to assess cities' disaster resistance.

The event was sponsored by the UNCRD Disaster Management Planning Hyogo Office in Hyogo Prefecture.

Kobe and its vicinity were devastated by the Great Hanshin Earthquake of January 1995, which resulted in more than 6,400 deaths.