Death toll rises to 1,339 in China quake in Yushu

YUSHU, Qinghai, April 17, 2010 (Xinhua) --

The death toll has climbed to 1,339 from a devastating earthquake in northwest China's Qinghai Province, with another 332 still missing, rescuers said Saturday.

The 7.1-magnitude quake, which struck the Yushu County in the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Yushu at 7:49 a.m. Wednesday, has also left 11,849 injured, 1,297 severely, Xia Xueping, a spokesman for the rescue headquarters, told a press conference.

Also Saturday, hundreds of victims were cremated on a hillside in Gyegu, the hardest quake-hit town in the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Yushu, with relatives mourning in tears and monks chanting Buddhist prayers.

All roads to quake-hit Yushu clear: vice transport minister

BEIJING, April 17, 2010 (Xinhua) --

China's vice transport minister said Saturday all roads to quake-hit Yushu in northwest China's Qinghai Province were clear, with transport capacity meeting the needs of relief work.

Special measures have been taken to ensure smooth traffic on roads and bridges having potential safety hazards, vice minister Gao Hongfeng said at a press conference in Beijing.

Traffic authorities in Qinghai have adopted measures such as exclusive lanes for vehicles carrying relief supplies, 24-hour traffic services and having tow trucks on stand-by, Gao said.

According to Gao, bus routes between Qinghai's capital city, Xining, and Yushu have resumed.

Clear roads helped the transfer of 1,179 seriously injured quake survivors to safer places as planned by the end of Friday and the few remaining seriously- or slightly-injured survivors will be transferred by Saturday, he said.

The ministry and local traffic authorities rushed to repair roads to Yushu after it was struck by a 7.1-magnitude quake early Wednesday morning.

All the roads to Yushu had been cleared by 2 p.m. Thursday and the road linking the township of Gyegu with the only airport in Yushu prefecture had been repaired by 5 a.m. Friday, he said.

The transport ministry has allocated 10 million yuan (1.47 million U.S. dollars) to Qinghai's transport department for road repairs, he said.

Editor: Bi Mingxin

Senior Chinese leader calls for timely, accurate, transparent coverage of quake relief

BEIJING, April 17, 2010 (Xinhua) --

A senior leader of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has urged the media to report the quake relief work in northwest China in a timely, accurate and transparent manner.

Li Changchun, a Standing Committee member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, gave the instruction in a telephone call during his diplomatic trip to Turkey that he cut short as the devastating quake on Wednesday in Yushu, Qinghai Province has left more than 1,000 people dead.

He also postponed visits to Saudi Arabia, Romania, Ireland and Montenegro.

Li said measures must be taken to salvage and preserve the cultural heritages of ethnic minorities in the quake-hit area.

Editor: Deng Shasha