Attendees pay a silent tribute to the earthquake victims before a press conference presenting the current situation of the recovery and rebuilding operation in Sichuan Province, the epicenter of the May 12 magnitude-8.0 earthquake, in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, May 7, 2009.(Xinhua/Jin Liangkuai) Photo Gallery>>>
by Xinhua writer Bai Xu
CHENGDU, May 7 (Xinhua) -- China released the number
of students killed or missing in the southwestern Sichuan province on Thursday,
almost a year after the May 12 massive quake jolted the region.
A total of 5,335 students in Sichuan were confirmed
as dead or missing from the earthquake, said Tu Wentao, head of the education
department of the province at a press conference.
Another 546 students were disabled as a result of the
disaster in the southwestern province, Tu said.
Huang Yong from Leigu Township, Beichuan County said
he was surprised at the announcement.
"I thought that the government wouldn't touch such a
sensitive topic as the one-year anniversary of the quake is approaching," said
Huang, 42, whose 10th-grade son Huang Yiran was killed in the collapse of the
Beichuan Middle School.
"Releasing the number is a reply for the ill-fated
kids," he said.
His view was shared by villager Chen Dingfu from
Longtou Village, also in Beichuan.
"This is great progress ... the government has never
released the number of dead students before," he said.
Thousands of schools collapsed in Sichuan in the
magnitude 8.0 quake last May. Statistics from the provincial education
department showed that 3,340 schools needed to be rebuilt after the earthquake.
Criticism arose for poor quality of school
construction. Many bereaved parents took to the streets, questioning
construction quality and demanding a reply from local governments.
Sichuan Province has pledged to have 95 percent of
the students back in school buildings, rather than tents or prefabricated
structures, before the end of this year. All students should be in regular
school buildings by next spring. And stronger school buildings are being built.
China's national legislature amended the Law on
Precautions Against Earthquake and Relief of Disaster last year, which says
schools and hospitals must be designed to stand strong earthquakes. School
buildings should stand quakes of at least 8.0.The new law took effect last
Friday.
Yu Wei, secretary-general of Sichuan
Provincial Government, speaks in a press conference presenting the current
situation of the recovery and rebuilding operation in Sichuan Province,
the epicenter of the May 12 magnitude-8.0 earthquake, in Chengdu, capital
of southwest China's Sichuan Province, May 7, 2009.(Xinhua/Jin
Liangkuai) Photo
Gallery>>>
However, these moves did not comfort some grieving
parents.
"We are too old to have children any more," Chen
said. "It was hard to raise our children. Now that they are gone, we need to
find out how the school buildings collapsed."
The release of the death toll seems to have
encouraged him.
"I expect the government to launch a thorough
investigation into school building quality."
Huang said: "If there is a quality problem with
school buildings, those who are responsible must be punished."
At the press conference, Yang Hongbo, head of the
construction department of the province, said that a group of 2,500 experts had
investigated the quality issue. They had found that the quake was too strong for
the old buildings in Sichuan, most of which were designed for quakes no stronger
than 7 magnitude.
He reiterated the pledge that "we will investigate
and severely punish relevant companies according to the law once there is
concrete evidence to prove problems existing in building design and
construction."
A bereaved mother who declined to be identified had
another wish.
"I hope the names of the dead children could be
publicized," she said. "I want more people to know that my daughter lived in
this world for seven years. I want them to know her name."
(Xinhua writers Wang Aihua, Tian Ye in Beijing, and
Yang Sanjun, Jiang Yi in Chengdu also contributed to this story.)
CHENGDU, May 7 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from
China's May 12 earthquake last year in Sichuan Province remains at 68,712, said
authorities with the civil affairs department of the provincial government
Thursday morning.
Another 17,921 people in Sichuan were missing after the
disaster, said Huang Mingquan, head of the civil affairs department. Full story
CHENGDU, May 7 (Xinhua) -- Sichuan Province, the epicenter
of amagnitude-8.0 earthquake, has so far received about 15.75 billion yuan(about
2.31 billion U.S. dollars) in quake donation, according to an official with the
provincial finance department here on Thursday.
Huang Jinsheng, head of the provincial finance department,
said in a press conference that the provincial government has received 9.13
billion yuan, while the rest of the funds were forwarded to prefectures and
counties in the province. Full story
BEIJING, May 7 -- The municipal government of Southwest
China's Chengdu city has released a report about the spending of social
donations after the May 12th earthquake last year.
The report says the city had received money donation,
equal to around 1 and half billion US dollars by March. Full story
