Earthquake toll above 8 600

2008-05-12 18:19

Beijing - More than 8 600 people died in the powerful earthquake that struck southwestern China on Monday, according to state media reports.

The quake, with a magnitude of 7.8, struck close to densely populated areas of Sichuan province, including the capital Chengdu, shortly before 14:30.

Xinhua news agency said 8 533 people had died in Sichuan on Monday, citing the local government.

The national disaster relief headquarters reported 48 killed in northwestern Gansu province, 50 in the municipality of Chongqing, 57 in Shaanxi province, and one in southwestern Yunnan, according to Xinhua.

All of those provinces and Chongqing, a special municipality of more than 30 million people, border Sichuan.

Tallied together, Xinhua has reported the deaths of 8 689 people.

Xinhua reported earlier that 900 students were buried in the collapse of a high school building in Dujiangyan city in Sichuan, near the epicentre of the quake.

Fifty people have been confirmed dead at that school, the news agency said.

Hundreds of people were also buried in two chemical plants in Shifang city in Sichuan, and more than 6 000 people nearby were evacuated, Xinhua said.

- AFP