14,866 Chinese Killed in Sichuan Earthquake, Beichuan County Devoured by the Quake

China quake death toll rises to 14,866

by 2:00 p.m.

www.chinaview.cn 2008-05-14 17:49:22

BEIJING, May 14 (Xinhua) --

The earthquake death toll across China rose to 14,866 by 2:00 p.m. Wednesday, Xinhua learnt from authoritative sources.

Among the figure, 14,463 were dead in Sichuan Province, 280 in Gansu Province, 106 in Shaanxi Province, 14 in Chongqing Municipality, two in Henan Province and one in Yunnan Province. Editor: Bi Mingxin

Chinese Politburo stresses saving lives first in quake relief

www.chinaview.cn 2008-05-14 19:38:03

BEIJING, May 14 (Xinhua) --

Saving lives should be taken as the top priority during the quake relief after nearly 15,000 confirmed dead, a high profile meeting of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee was told Wednesday.

The meeting of the Political Bureau Standing Committee of the CPC Central Committee, presided over by President Hu Jintao, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, urged more army, armed police, firemen and special policemen, as well as medical personnel be rushed to the quake-hit areas.

The meeting called on various government departments to take measures to provide appropriate accommodations to survivors, ensuring that they are well fed, clad and sheltered.

"Attention should be paid to maintain social stability," the meeting was told.

It presses resumption of transportation, electricity, communication and water supply as soon as possible.

A strong quake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale jolted Wenchuan County in northwest part of Sichuan Province at 2:28 p.m. on Monday. The death toll tallied 14,463 by 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday in Sichuan. Another 14,051 were missing, 25,788 buried in debris, and 64,746 injured.

Tens of thousands of army personnel and armed police have arrived at or are approaching the epicenter to carry out disaster relief work.

As of 3:00 p.m. Wednesday, emergency relief teams sent by the China Seismological Bureau (CSB) and 13 provinces and municipalities had saved 84 survivors in Sichuan.

Disaster relief goods have been airdropped to major quake-hit areas including Wenchuan County and Mianzhu City.

Public donations in both cash and goods to the quake-hit areas had risen to 877 million yuan (125 million U.S. dollars) as of 4 p.m. on Wednesday, updating a previous figure of 603 million yuan, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Editor: Wang Hongjiang

Sichuan earthquake death toll reaches 12,012

www.chinaview.cn 2008-05-13 23:01:12

CHENGDU, May 13 (Xinhua) --

As of 7 p.m. Tuesday, southwestern Sichuan Province has reported 12,012 death in Monday's quake, according to the disaster relief center under the State Council.

Another 9,404 were buried in debris, 7,841 were missing and 26,206 people were injured, according to the headquarters.

Li Chengyun, vice governor of Sichuan, provided a breakdown of the death toll, including 161 in the Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, 7,395 in Mianyang City, 2,648 in Deyang City, 959 in the provincial capital Chengdu and 700 in Guangyuan City. Other casualties were reported in cities including Ya'an, Ziyang and the Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.

The death toll climbed from an earlier tally provided by the Ministry of Civil Affairs, which put the Sichuan death toll at 11,608. Authorities said the death toll might change every hour, as they heard reports from rescuers who were seizing every minute to pull out bodies from the earthquake rubble.

The earthquake, which centered on the province's Wenchuan County at 2:28 p.m. Monday, has left the province in chaos. More than 3.46 million houses were wracked, Li said.

Li said he was deeply saddened by the super earthquake. He called on both officials and the masses in Sichuan to speed up efforts to fight the disaster and rescue themselves.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, who arrived in Sichuan Monday afternoon to oversee rescue work, ordered the clearance of rocks and mud slides that were blocking roads to the epicenter by midnight on Tuesday.

"People are trapped in debris; we must use every second," he told an emergency meeting at 7:00 a.m. Tuesday.

On Tuesday afternoon, a brigade of about 30 soldiers reached Yingxiu Town of the earthquake epicenter Wenchuan, the disaster relief headquarters in the Chengdu Military Area Command said.

The soldiers reported they saw more than 70 percent of the roads in the town were wracked, and nearly all bridges collapsed. A large number of people were believed to be under the debris.

They said 3,000 people were known to have survived, and the town's total population is 12,000. No information on detailed casualties could be available.

Li Shiming, commander of the Chengdu Military Area Command, said the soldiers had distributed food and water to children and injured people in the town, and more supplies would be airdropped to the area.

Editor: Sun Yunlong

Powerful earthquake devours county in Sichuan

www.chinaview.cn 2008-05-14 02:29:19 Print

BEICHUAN, Sichuan, May 14 (Xinhua) --

Beichuan County has prided itself as the birth place of a heroic Chinese ancestor Da Yu, who, according to legends, tamed the inundant Yellow River. But it was almost devoured by a powerful earthquake which rocked southwest China's Sichuan Province and was felt in many parts of the country on Monday.

Officials said about 80 percent of the buildings collapsed in the old town area and nearly 60 percent were flattened in the new town. The death toll was estimated up to 5,000.

NO WHERE TO ESCAPE

Beichuan was encircled by hills about 500 to 1,000 meters high and when the quake struck, few escaped.

"People escaped from the buildings, but were only devoured by the landslides," said a survivor named Lei Xiaoying

"Mountains around the town collapsed onto the low-lying areas. There was no where to escape," she said.

"More tremors followed the earthquake and didn't stop until Tuesday morning, and many more rocks were thrown downhill," she said.

After the tremor, government buildings, schools and kindergartens were buried. In a hospital, only three doctors and four nurses escaped. In the Beichuan Middle School, at least 1,000 students and teachers were buried when the main building, seven storey high, was toppled and reduced to a pile of rubbles about 2 meters high.

Rows of apartment buildings dropped to the ground. Collapsed houses were everywhere in about 20 kilometers diameter around the downtown Beichuan. Telecommunications and electricity were cut down.

The exact number of people dead is still not available, but local residents said they fear at least 7,000 to 8,000 died.

Zhu Qin, a fifth-grade student in the Qushan primary school in Beichuan, said she escaped with the help of her teacher, but many of her classmates never ran out.

"My mother works in a kindergarten, and I guess she didn't get out. My sister is nowhere to find either," she said.

The downtown Yangjiajie market was plastered by a residential building which fell right onto its top. Xiang Shiyong, 42, said his wife was taking care of their shop at the market and never ran out.

ALL OUT TO RESCUE

The disaster relief headquarters in Mianyang, which administers Beichuan, said about 6,000 soldiers and 250 medical staffs were working in Beichuan and nearby counties. More than 3,700 more troops and 1,000 other rescuers are on their way.

In the Beichuan Middle School, about 1,000 policemen were searching for survivors in the ruins. About a dozen of officers stood hands in hands along a cliff to protect people evacuating from the county.

By Tuesday night, about 5,000 people have been evacuated and some are staying in stadiums in the neighboring Mianyang city.

Nurses who came to rescue from Mianyang shouted to the debris in an attempt to reach anyone still alive. A nurse was seen holding a young man's hand and talking to him while waiting for rescuers. The man's body was stuck between cement slabs.

Soldiers said before more rescue facilities were brought in, they had to use ladders and cabinet doors to carry the injured.

Local people also helped each other and rescued those who had better chances of survival. Residents from neighboring counties also came to assist the rescue work.

Lin Xin, vice mayor of Mianyang, said the destruction was too severe to recover immediately. "Some of the road sections were covered almost seamlessly by debris, and the only way to clear was to use explosives, but we fear that could trigger more landslides," he said.

"We are doing everything we could here, but the rescue work was met with a lot of difficulties," he said.

Continuous drizzles have left streets mired and only complicated the rescue operations. It was still difficult to pull out people buried deep under the wreckages, and it took more than 10 people to rescue one in areas too small for large excavators, he said.

Editor: Mu Xuequan

800 armed police start rescue operation in quake-hit SW China

www.chinaview.cn 2008-05-14 11:13:58

·Over 800 armed police arrived at Wenchuan, started rescue operation. ·2 helicopters Wednesday morning with relief supplies flied over Yingxiu. ·2 remote-sensing planes departed at 7:00 a.m. Wednesday to Sichuan.

BEIJING, May 14 (Xinhua) --

By 8 a.m. Wednesday, more than 800 armed police had arrived at Wenchuan and started rescue operation in southwest China's Sichuan Province that was hit by a massive earthquake Monday afternoon.

Wednesday morning, two helicopters with relief supplies flied over the Yingxiu Town of Wenchuan County and three more are standing by to await orders at the Fenghuanshang airport, according to the Chengdu Military Command.

If weather conditions permit, the five helicopters will fly to Wenchuan County to air-drop relief supplies, according to the Chengdu Military Command.

From Beijing, two remote-sensing planes of China's naval forces departed at 7:00 a.m. Wednesday to quake-hit Sichuan to collect data of this region.

The road from Dujiangyan, a city northwest of the provincial capital Chengdu, to Wenchuan, the epicenter, was blocked by rocks and mud slides, holding up rescue, medical and other disaster relief teams.

Several groups from the Chengdu Military Command have chosen towalk to the areas with heaviest damage inflicted by the quake.

As of 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sichuan reported 12,012 deaths in Monday's quake, according to the disaster relief center under the State Council.

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