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Rescuers try to save wounded students at Juyuan Middle School in Juyuan Township of Dujiangyan City, about 100 kilometers from the epicenter in Wenchuan county of southwest China's Sichuan Province, on May 12, 2008. Nearly 900 students here were feared buried when a high school building
collapsed in the earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale which
jolted Wenchuan County at 2:28 p.m. on Monday. Rescue works
were still underway by press time. (Xinhua Photo)
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DUJIANGYAN, Sichuan, May 12 (Xinhua) -- Nearly 900
students in southwest China's Sichuan Province were feared buried when a high
school building collapsed here in an earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter
scale on Monday afternoon.
At least four third-graders -- two boys and two girls
-- were confirmed dead at Juyuan Middle School in Juyuan Township of Dujiangyan
City, about 100 kilometers from the epicenter in Wenchuan County, parents and
witnesses said.
Xinhua reporters saw a three-story school building
had partially collapsed. Some buried teenagers were struggling to break loose
from underneath the ruins while others were crying out for help.
Grieved parents watched as five cranes were
excavating at the site and an ambulance was waiting.
A tearful mother said his son, third-grader Zhang
Chengwei, was buried in the ruins.
Two girls said they escaped because they had "run
faster than others."
"It was around 2:30 pm, and the building suddenly
began to rock back and forth," one of them recalled.
A villager said the school had 18 classes, all second
and third graders, with about 50 students in each class.
"We ran out of the house when the quake hit," said
Gao Shangyuan, a villager who lived close to school and helped with the rescue
work.
Gao and other villagers helped dozens of students out
of the ruins. "Some had jumped out of the window and a few others ran down the
stairs that did not collapse."
The quake, felt in most parts of China, has killed
107 nationwide, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs by 18:00.
Earthquake measuring 7.8 Richter scale hits SW China, 5
dead
BEIJING, May 12 (Xinhua) -- A major earthquake measuring
7.8 on the Richter scale jolted Wenchuan County in southwest China's Sichuan
Province at 2:28 p.m. Monday, the State Seismological Bureau (SSB) said.
The epicenter of the quake was located at 31.0 degrees
north latitude and 103.4 degrees east longitude, the bureau said. Full story
President Hu orders utmost effort for
Sichuan quake victims
BEIJING, May 12 (Xinhua) -- President Hu Jintao on Monday
ordered all-out efforts to help those affected by a major earthquake measuring
7.8 on the Richter scale that jolted Wenchuan County of southwest China's
Sichuan Province at 2:28 p.m. on Monday. Full story
China sends troops to quake-hit county
for disaster relief
BEIJING, May 12 (Xinhua) -- China's Chengdu Military Area
Command has dispatched troops to help with disaster relief work in the
earthquake-stricken Wenchuan County of southwest China's Sichuan Province,
military sources said. Full story
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