'900 students buried' by China quake

Chezzie · Post by **Chezzie** » Mon May 12, 2008 5:22 am

Almost 900 students are buried after an earthquake measuring 7.8 caused a building to collapse in south-western China, state media reports.

President Hu Jintao urged "all-out" efforts to rescue victims of the quake, which hit 92km (57 miles) from Chengdu, Sichuan's provincial capital.

Premier Wen Jiabao is travelling to the area and troops are being sent to help with disaster relief efforts.

Officials have confirmed 107 deaths in the area but the figure could rise.

Cries for help

There are harrowing reports from the scene of the collapse in Dujiangyan city - about 100km (60 miles) from the epicentre in Wenchuan county.

Teenagers buried beneath the rubble of the three-storey school building were struggling to break free, while others were crying out for help, state news agency Xinhua reported.

Parents were watching as cranes excavated the site. Villagers rushed to help with the rescue.

Two girls said they escaped because they had "run faster than others".

Earlier, four schoolchildren were reported to have died, and more than 100 others were injured, when primary school buildings collapsed in the Chongqing area near Sichuan province, Xinhua reports.

Another person is reported to have died when a water tower collapsed in the city of Mianyang, in Santai county.

A spokesman for Gansu province said 10 people were killed and 14 injured by collapsing buildings in Pingliang and Longnan.

Forty-four aftershocks have been reported since the quake, which was the strongest to hit Sichuan province in more than 30 years, Xinhua reports.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-p ... 395496.stm

My heart to goes out to all involved in this terrible tragedy:-1

Chezzie · Post by **Chezzie** » Mon May 12, 2008 2:21 pm

Latest Update

A powerful earthquake has killed at least 8,500 people in China's south-western Sichuan province, up to 5,000 of them in just one county.

Many more have been killed and injured in other parts of the country after the 7.8-magnitude quake struck at 1428 local time (0628 GMT).

At least 50 bodies have been recovered from the rubble of a school where an estimated 900 students were buried.

President Hu Jintao has urged "all-out" efforts to rescue victims.

Search teams were sent to the area but struggled to get through because routes were blocked, while nightfall later hampered the rescue attempts.

chonsigirl · Post by **chonsigirl** » Mon May 12, 2008 2:55 pm

Oh, this is a sad story, such a big quake.

Post by **spot** » Mon May 12, 2008 11:17 pm

Idgie;863260 wrote: Saw this on the news this morning. The weather is wreaking havoc all over the place lately.

The weather there's what they normally get, it would be abnormal for somewhere like Canada but Sichuan isn't a province of Canada, it's in the tropics. I'm not sure you can blame the weather for an earthquake.

Chengdu Climatic Features: lies in subtropical humid climate, average rainfall of 900-1,300mm per year, annual average humidity is 82%, and the sunshine ratio is 28%.

http://www.4panda.com/sichuan/about%20s ... eather.htm

chrisb84uk · Post by **chrisb84uk** » Tue May 13, 2008 2:49 am

I heard about this yesterday, what a truly sad tragedy for everyone involved, my thoughts go out to all of them! :yh_pray

Chezzie · Post by **Chezzie** » Wed May 14, 2008 5:10 am

Nearly 15,000 people died in the devastating earthquake that hit China's Sichuan province, the official Xinhua news agency has reported.

More than 25,000 are still trapped in the rubble two days after the 7.9 quake struck, causing landslides and razing homes, schools and whole villages.

Cant believe only 5 people have responded to this post....Makes me wonder if it had happened elsewhere, would more people want to talk about it? If it was UK or USA would it make a difference?

Im not having a go btw, each person is totally entitled to respond to whatever they like but I just personally find it strange that more people are not talking about it...

Post by **spot** » Wed May 14, 2008 5:20 am

I'm not sure there's a lot to discuss, Chezzie. It's one of the biggest earthquakes imaginable, it's torn a large town to shreds, the final 60 miles into the epicentre's had to be done on foot for the first day's rescuers because there's so much damage. If one were stuck in an earthquake it's not a bad place to be, the locals are energetic and determined, they seem not to be making a catastrophe out of a crisis.

Chezzie · Post by **Chezzie** » Wed May 14, 2008 5:29 am

One thing id like to discuss is Burma's refusal for help. Is this because they are a self-sufficient culture and they rarely rely on outsiders help or is it a government/military reason.

I know it is the repressive military government who refused food and medical help from around the world. Now they are accepting aid but making sure that the people know that aid is coming from the repressive military leaders, not from countries of the world. Is that government is using aid as propaganda to keep the people repressed? Is the worry of Bush to much for these countries now?

Post by **spot** » Wed May 14, 2008 6:21 am

I'm not sure I believe either Western politicians or Western news outlets these days when they use the word "repressive", they've lied too many times in the past. I mistrust their motives.

flopstock · Post by **flopstock** » Wed May 14, 2008 8:43 am

Chezzie;865143 wrote: Nearly 15,000 people died in the devastating earthquake that hit China's Sichuan province, the official Xinhua news agency has reported.

More than 25,000 are still trapped in the rubble two days after the 7.9 quake struck, causing landslides and razing homes, schools and whole villages.

Cant believe only 5 people have responded to this post....Makes me wonder if it had happened elsewhere, would more people want to talk about it? If it was UK or USA would it make a difference?

Im not having a go btw, each person is totally entitled to respond to whatever they like but I just personally find it strange that more people are not talking about it...
i've been checking back here from time to time looking for updates, but this is just beyond commenting on, IMO. i start to write my hopes for those folks and cannot find the right words... i started to write a response about some of the Chinese visitors we've had here in the past practicing their English, hoping they are okay and i cannot find the right words...

so i've just kept my underwhelming efforts at conveying my concern, to myself and instead been looking for everything i can find on this tragedy elsewhere..

do you know that in 1976 300000 died and i didn't notice because my son was born...what an idiot

mikeinie · Post by **mikeinie** » Wed May 14, 2008 9:00 am

It is hearbreaking.:-1

YZGI · Post by **YZGI** » Wed May 14, 2008 9:02 am

Mynamar is bracing for another big storm and China is worried about dam's bursting due to cracks made from the earthquake. It is an ongoing tragedy.

Post by **spot** » Wed May 14, 2008 9:42 am

Those dams are something of a liability in the long term. We need to develop and accept cheap nuclear power worldwide for a lot of reasons.

Sheryl · Post by **Sheryl** » Wed May 14, 2008 11:15 am

I've watched the news for the last couple days, about the Myanmar tragedy and China. And I'm basically flabbergasted as to what to say or think. My heart goes out to all those poor people.