The wounded are lifted to a helicopter in
Yingxiu Town of Wenchuan County, the epicenter of Monday's massive
earthquake on May 14, 2008. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
BEIJING, May 15 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Wen
Jiabao has ordered the armed forces and civil aviation department to deploy 90
more helicopters for rescue missions in quake-hit Sichuan province.
The decision was made at a late Wednesday evening
meeting of the national quake relief headquarters held on a running train from
Sichuan provincial capital Chengdu to Guangyuan city about 200 kilometers away.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (C) consoles
locals as he pays a visit to Beichuan County, which neighbors the
epicenter of the massive quake in southwest China's Sichuan Province, May
14, 2008. Wen Jiabao arrived on Wednesday at Beichuan County, one of the
regions worst hit by Monday's massive earthquake, to oversee the rescue
work. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
China's air force will deploy 60 more helicopters and
the other 30 will be provided by the civil aviation industry, according to the
headquarters headed by Wen himself.
An earthquake, measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, struck Wenchuan
County of southwestern Sichuan Province Monday afternoon, killing almost
15,000 people in Sichuan Province.
Since the rescue missions started on Monday, 20
helicopters have been dispatched to quake-hit areas for reconnaissance, food and
water airdropping, transporting injured people and delivering rescuers.
Rescuers unload medical materials
from a helicopter in Yingxiu Town of Wenchuan County, the epicenter
of Monday's massive earthquake on May 14, 2008. (Xinhua
Photo) Photo
Gallery>>>
Premier Wen urged in the meeting that saving people's
lives was still the top priority of the disaster relief work more than 50 hours
after the quake.
"We must use all our forces, and save lives at
whatever costs. Life is the most precious thing, we must be amenable to the
people and the history," Wen said.
Forty-four counties and districts in Sichuan were
severely affected by the quake. About half of the 20 million population in these
areas were directly affected by the quake, according to the meeting.
Soldiers from the People's Liberation
Army carry relief materials after their arrival in the quake-stricken
Wenchuan County in southwest China's Sichuan Province, May 14, 2008. A
strong quake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale struck Wenchuan at 2:28
p.m. on Monday. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
Since most of the quake-hit areas
are mountainous villages, thousands of rescuers and hundreds of tons of materials were
held up on the ways, blocked by rocks and mud shaken onto roadside, to the quake's
epicenter, making air support a vital need.
China's air force, army aviation and civil
aviation have made its largest noncombat air operation since Monday, mobilizing more
than 150 airplanes in various relief missions.
The air force has deployed more than 40 transporters
which delivered about 8,600 rescuers and 200 tons of materials with more than
130 flights in 48 hours after quake.
PLA soliders carry the relief supplies
onto a cargo-aeronef heading for the earthquake-affected areas in Sichuan
Province to drop the urgently-needed food and relief supplies, in Wuhan,
central China's Hubei Province, May 13, 2008. China poured more troops
into the earthquake-ravaged province of Sichuan on Wednesday to quicken a
search for survivors as time ran out for thousands of people buried under
rubble and mud. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
The force also parachuted 15 elite airborne troopers
to a county close to the epicenter who jumped out of plane at about 4,900 meter
above sea level and landed without ground instruction and weather reference on
Wednesday afternoon.
As of mid-Wednesday, rescuers have reached all the
affected counties and began rescue efforts there.
The meeting decided to mobilize 30,000 more troops
for the relief efforts, raising the total number of PLA and armed police
soldiers involved in the rescue operation to 100,000.
More than 16,000 policemen are already involved in
the rescue efforts.
Throughout Wednesday, 18,277 injured people were
rescued in Sichuan, increasing the total number to 64,725. Among them are 1,620
people seriously injured, according to information from the meeting.
BEIJING, May 15 (Xinhua) -- China's Defense Ministry said
early Thursday that it has ordered the deployment of 101 more helicopters to the
quake-hit Sichuan province.
The General Staff of the People's Liberation Army has
ordered the airborne troops of the Army and Air Force to send 71 more transport
helicopters to help the quake relief work, a spokesman of the Ministry told
Xinhua. Full story
BEIJING, May 14 (Xinhua) -- The earthquake death toll
across China rose to 14,866 by 2:00 p.m. Wednesday, Xinhua learnt from
authoritative sources.
Among the figure, 14,463 were dead in Sichuan Province,
280 in Gansu Province, 106 in Shaanxi Province, 14 in Chongqing Municipality,
two in Henan Province and one in Yunnan Province. Full story
CHENGDU, May 14 (Xinhua) -- More than 30,000 people were
missing or out of reach in the quake-hit Shifang City in southwest China's
Sichuan Province, as the death toll climbed above 2,500, according to the local
government.
Twelve teachers and 447 students were among the dead.
Another 147 teachers and 2,673 students were injured, according to a statement
posted on the government website (www.shifang.gov.cn). Full story
BEIJING, May 15 (Xinhua) -- A strong quake measuring 7.8
on the Richter scale jolted Wenchuan County in southwest China's Sichuan
Province Monday afternoon.
Tremors were felt across China except the northeastern
Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces and the northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous
region. Full story
BEIJING, May 15 (Xinhua) -- A 7.8-magnitude earthquake
struck Wenchuan County of southwest China's Sichuan Province Monday afternoon,
killing almost 15,000 people in Sichuan and neighboring regions.
The worst quake in three decades in China was felt in most
parts of the county. The following is a detailed list of casualties reported
from different regions, based on the latest government statistics. Full story
