China toll up to 10 000
2008-05-13 01:26
Chengdu - An earthquake devastated
southwestern China, killing close to 10 000 people and trapping
hundreds of others under schools, factories and houses while the
worst-hit area was still cut off from rescuers on Tuesday.
The 7.8 magnitude quake, centred in Sichuan province, struck
in the middle of the school day on Monday and toppled at least
eight schools.
Chemical-laden factories and at least one
hospital collapsed, trapping hundreds more, state media said.
The death toll appeared likely to climb in China's worst
earthquake for over three decades as troops struggled on foot to
reach the worst-hit area of Wenchuan, about 100km from the Sichuan's provincial capital Chengdu.
Officials said there was no word from three townships
nearest epicentre in Wenchuan, a hilly county of 112 000 people.
Teens buried under school
About 900 teenagers were buried under a three-storey school
building in the Sichuan city of Dujiangyan.
Premier Wen Jiabao,
who rushed there, bowed three times in grief before some of the
50 bodies already pulled out, Xinhua news agency reported.
Xinhua said at another Dujiangyan school 420 students were
trapped and workers had so far been able to rescue less than
100.
"Not one minute can be wasted," Wen said. "One minute, one
second could mean a child's life."
In Chengdu, many residents slept outside or in cars, fearing
more tremors in the city where at least 45 people died and 600
were injured.
The government has rushed troops and medical teams to dig
for survivors and treat the injured.
Wen urges calm
Sometimes struggling to
contain his emotions, Wen vowed to spare no effort while urging
crying and injured residents to stay calm.
Severed roads and rail lines blocked the way to Wenchuan,
and local officials described crumpled houses, landslides and
scenes of desperation.
"We are in urgent need of tents, food, medicine and
satellite communications equipment," the Communist Party chief
of Wenchuan, Wang Bin said, according to Xinhua.
Most farmers' homes in two townships had collapsed and there
was no word from the three townships nearest the epicentre,
which have a population of 24 000, the report added.
So far
Wenchuan has reported 15 dead, a number likely to rise steeply.
One in 10 dead, hurt
More than 7 000 may have died in Sichuan's Beichuan Qiang
Autonomous County, where 80%t of the buildings were
destroyed, Sichuan television said. Beichuan has a population of
161 000, meaning about one in 10 there were killed or injured.
"Even if it means walking in, we must enter the worst-hit
areas as quickly as possible," Wen said, according to Xinhua.
But a paramilitary officer marching with a hundred troops
towards Wenchuan described a devastated landscape that is likely
to yield many dead and to frustrate rescuers.
"I have seen many collapsed civilian houses and the rocks
dropped from mountains on the roadside are everywhere," said the
People's Armed Police officer Liu Zaiyuan, according to Xinhua.
Rain forecast
Thunderstorms forecast in Sichuan for Tuesday could make
rescue attempts more difficult and dislodge more loose rocks.
Most phone lines in Wenchuan were down and a website for the
region's Aba prefecture said the quake had cut several major
highways and communications were largely severed in 11 counties.
Landslides had cut off three major rail lines leading to
Chengdu, stranding 31 passenger trains and 149 cargo trains,
Xinhua said, but no casualties had been reported.
The US Geological Survey said the main quake struck at
06:28 GMT at a depth of 10km.
Its force was felt across much of China and caused buildings
to sway in Beijing and Shanghai and as far away as the Thai
capital Bangkok.
The Sichuan quake was the worst to hit China since the 1976
Tangshan tremor in northeastern China where up to 300 000 died.
Chemical plants destroyed
In Shefang city in Sichuan, 6 000 residents were evacuated
after two chemical plants were levelled, trapping more than a
hundred people and spilling corrosive liquids.
In Beijing and Shanghai, office workers poured into the
streets. In the capital, there was no visible damage and the
showpiece Bird's Nest Olympic stadium was unscathed.
Chinese officials and scientists said that Beijing was
unlikely to see more aftershocks, Xinhua reported.
Help offered
In Washington, President George W Bush said the United
States was ready to help.
The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
as well as Japan, France, Germany and other powers have also
sent messages offering condolences and help.
But for now China is struggling to get its own rescuers
where they are most needed, and one international aid expert
said the death toll was likely to rise.
"Our biggest concern is children who were in schools and
orphanages when the earthquake hit," said Wyndham James, the
China country director for the Save the Children charity.
"I can imagine the authorities are releasing only
conservative (death toll) figures that are likely to grow."
- Reuters