Special
report: Strong
Earthquake Jolts SW China
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Deng Jiaying, a 86-year-old woman,
evacuates from the mountain area with the help of the Chinese People's
Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers in Beichuan County, southwest China's
Sichuan Province, May 16, 2008. Many victims trapped in the mountain area
of the county evacuated under the escort of PLA soldiers on Friday.(Xinhua
Photo)
Photo
Gallery>>> |
BEICHUAN, Sichuan, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Thirty-three more
survivors were pulled out of debris in Beichuan county in southwest China on
Friday as rescue efforts entered the fourth day since the 7.8-magnitude
earthquake on Monday.
The total number of survivors saved in Beichuan in
Sichuan Province rose to 13,595, rescuers said.
Beichuan, a county of about 160,000 people, is one of
the worst-hit region, with 80 percent of the buildings collapsed and at least
7,000 lives lost.
A 46-year-old survivor, Peng Zhijun, had lived on
cigarettes, paper napkins and his urine when he was buried in the rubble in the
past four days. He was still sober-minded almost 100 hours after the quake.
Doctors said he suffered bone fractures in the left
arm and slight injuries in the legs, but the other parts of his body were
basically in good condition.
"Natural disasters cannot be avoided. I had to save
me from myself," Peng told reporters Friday evening.
He recalled that more than 10 people had been buried
beside him in the rubble. "At the very beginning, they were all alive. But
unfortunately, they died one after another."
"I had encouraged some of them to drink their urine.
But they did not listen," he said.
Zhang Yan, a 36-year-old woman pharmacist, was
rescued at 2:36 p.m. Friday. She was unconscious and soldiers carried her on
their backs to a nearby medical center.
A 72-year-old woman named Deng Zhongqun was found by
soldiers after being stranded at her badly damaged hillside house. She had been
injured by a falling girder and had eaten only nuts over the past four days.
"Thank goodness for the soldiers. I only weigh 65
kilograms and they carried me by turns on their backs, walking miles to reach
the medical station," said Deng.
The death toll in Sichuan alone exceeded 21,500 while
14,000 others remained buried as of 4 p.m. Friday, vice provincial governor Li
Chengyun said at a press conference.
He said that 159,000 people were injured in the
massive earthquake and 4.8 million people had been relocated.
Friday's death toll rose by about 2,000 from that of
Thursday.
Sichuan had experienced 4,432 aftershocks in the past
four days, Li said.
The national death toll from the earthquake rose to
22,069 as of 2 p.m. Friday, while 168,669 people were injured, the latest
government statistics show.
In addition to the deaths in Sichuan, 364 were killed
in Gansu Province, 109 in Shaanxi Province, 15 in Chongqing Municipality, two in
Henan Province, one in Yunnan Province and one in Hubei Province.
The central government allocated another 1.17 billion
yuan (167million U.S. dollars) to the relief fund for quake-hit areas on Friday.
This brought the disaster relief fund from the central budget to 3.41 billion
yuan.
Public donations in both cash and goods to the
quake-hit areas rose to 3.175 billion yuan as of 4 p.m. Friday, according to the
Ministry of Civil Affairs.
China has mobilized more than 130,000 troops for
rescue operations, who were desperate to excavate survivors despite the passing
of the prime time for survivors' rescue -- 72 hours after the quake.
Foreign rescue teams from Japan, Russia, the Republic
of Korea and Singapore have arrived in Sichuan to aid the disaster relief
efforts.
President Hu visits quake victims,
saving lives top priority after four days
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Chinese President Hu
Jintao comforts a wounded woman in Mianyang, a city in
quake-hit southwestern Sichuan Province, May 16, 2008.He encouraged them
to be confident in overcoming hardships caused by the
disaster. (Xinhua Photo)
Photo
Gallery>>> |
MIANYANG, Sichuan, May 16 (Xinhua) -- China was bracing
for huge numbers of earthquake fatalities as President Hu Jintao visited victims
and stressed that saving lives was "still the top priority" four days after the
massive quake struck the country's southwest. Full story
Central gov't departments continue
efforts in quake relief
BEIJING, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Various departments of China's
central government continued their work in disaster relief on Friday after a
7.8-magnitude quake jolted Wenchuan County in southwest China's Sichuan
Province. Full story
China quake death toll rises to
22,069
BEIJING, May 16 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from the
7.8-magnitude earthquake in southwest China's Sichuan Province rose to 22,069
nationwide as of 2 p.m. Friday, while 168,669 people were injured, according to
the emergency response office of the State Council. Full story
Facts and figures about China quake
and relief
BEIJING, May 16 (Xinhua) -- A strong quake measuring
7.8 on the Richter scale jolted Wenchuan County in southwest China's Sichuan
Province Monday afternoon.
Following are the latest facts and figures of the
quake and relief work on Friday. Full story
China sends experts to assess
reservoir damage in quake-hit Sichuan
BEIJING, May 16 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Water
Resources on Friday dispatched nine emergency repair teams to Sichuan to assess
the conditions of reservoirs after Monday's massive earthquake. Full story
Donations to China quake zone hit
3.175 bln yuan
BEIJING, May 16 (Xinhua) -- China has received 3.175
billion yuan (454 million U.S. dollars) in cash and goods for earthquake relief
from donors at home and abroad as of 4 p.m. Friday, according to the Ministry of
Civil Affairs (MCA). Full story
