 Starving refugees, disorganised stragglers, and the sick and wounded clogged the primitive roads and tracks leading to India.At least 500,000 civilian fugitives reached India, while an unknown number, conservatively estimated between 10,000 and 50,000, died along the way.In later months, 70 to 80% of those who reached India were afflicted with diseases such as dysentery, smallpox, malaria or cholera, with 30% "desperately so".