CHINA: Earthquake in southern China kills over 8,000 in one province alone and injures thousands more

Record ID: 858882

  • Title: CHINA: Earthquake in southern China kills over 8,000 in one province alone and injures thousands more
  • Date: 13th May 2008
  • Summary: (W3) CHENGDU, SICHUAN PROVINCE, CHINA (MAY 12, 2008) (AMVID-ZHAO ZIDONG) INTERIOR OF A UNIVERSITY DORMITORY ROOM WITH STUDENT HIDING UNDER THE TABLE ITEMS FALLING FROM THE TABLE ON TO THE FLOOR
  • Embargoed: 28th May 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: China
  • City:
  • Country: China
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes,Health
  • Reuters ID: LVAEE7EIRR470ZRF55G90SGLYXWS
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: The worst earthquake in China for over 30 years kills nearly 9,000 in one province alone and injures thousands more.
    A powerful earthquake has shaken southwest China, killing nearly 9,000 people in populous Sichuan province, and injuring thousands more, state media said, as hundreds of children remained trapped in at least eight collapsed schools.
    Thousands were killed in Beichuan county of mountainous Sichuan province after the 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit the region during the early afternoon on Monday (May 12), Xinhua news agency said, citing the local government.
    The death toll was expected to rise further as authorities and rescue teams made contact with the worst-hit areas of Sichuan, where phone lines have been cut off since the quake struck.
    Thousands of army troops and paramilitary People's Armed Police carrying medical supplies were headed to the region, state television said.
    On Monday evening state media showed 180 special rescue workers from China International Search and Rescue (CISAR) flying out from Beijing to worst effected areas. The troops were transported aboard two planes loaded with emergency medical equipment and sniffer dogs to search for those trapped under collapsed buildings.
    "The most difficult part is performing emergency aid on the spot.
    Within a short time we have to calm down those who have been most severely hurt and then escort them to hospital," one rescue worker explained.
    The quake is the worst to hit China in 32 years since the 1976 Tangshan earthquake in north-eastern China where up to 300,000 died.
    At least 45 had died in the Sichuan's provincial capital, Chengdu, Xinhua said earlier, citing an official with the local seismological bureau.
    Another 600 people were injured, 58 of them critically, in the sprawling city of 10 million.
    Buildings were toppled in at least six counties near the epicentre in the Sichuan county of Wenchuan, Xinhua said.
    The quake struck in the middle of the school day, toppling at least eight schools, leaving hundreds of students and teachers trapped, state media said.
    About 900 teenagers were buried in the rubble of a collapsed three-storey school building in the Sichuan city of Dujiangyan.
    Local villagers had already helped dozens of students out of the ruins and five cranes were excavating at the site as anxious parents looked on, Xinhua said.
    Premier Wen Jiabao arrived in Chengdu in the evening and President Hu Jintao ordered an "all-out" rescue effort, Xinhua reported. Wen Jiabao was seen visiting badly-damaged Dujiangyan city late at night.
    The U.S. Geological Survey said on its website that the main quake struck at 0628 GMT at a depth of 10 km (6 miles).
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