China’s official media now say the earthquake death toll in Sichuan province has topped 12,000 and could surge higher.
The vice governor of the southwestern province, Li Chengyun, said the death toll was based on incomplete figures as of Tuesday afternoon. He said 26,206 people were injured, up to 3.5 million homes destroyed, and more than 12,000 were had been killed. Tens of thousands remain unreachable and unaccounted for.
This report is from Yingxiu township in Sichuan, by RFA Mandarin service reporter Yan Xiu:
A rescue team walked into Yingxiu township, at the epicenter of a huge earthquake which wreaked tremendous havoc, with a death toll of more than 12,000. This is the first rescue team to arrive in the epicenter area so far. All roads at the epicenter were reportedly damaged, bridges collapsed and a large number of people buried in the rubble.
A resident of Wenchuan county, where Yingxiu township is located, said he left home last Saturday. “I cannot contact my relatives and friends living there. But all my own family members are now living out of the town,” the man, surnamed Duan, said.
Duan said that Yingxiu township has a population of about 30, 000 people, and most houses are built along the river. “There is a river flowing between mountains, and the town center is located at the foot of the mountain. The houses are on both sides of the Min river. The earthquake must have had an impact on the town.”
Another heavy-hit area is Beichuan county — pictured above in the video — which reportedly has been ruined by the tremor. RFA spoke to a local tea businessman surnamed Feng, who lost 10 relatives in the disaster.
When the earthquake came, he happened to be out of town, and he went back on Tuesday to look for his family. “I went back to the town and the scene is horrible. I just found my sister but I lost my dad, my mom. We lost ten some family members in the tremor. With such a disaster, my mind is already numb. Honestly, I am weeping non-stop the whole time I am talking to you.”
According to Mr. Feng most people who survived have already left for nearby Mianyang city. “More than 95 percent of the survivors are currently not in Beichuan,” he said. “There are only medical teams, rescue teams, armed police and PLA soldiers now in the town. A lot of the dead remain buried under the rubble. The town has a population of around 20, 000. It is estimated but might not be accurate that only seven or eight thousand people survived.
Ms. Yu is a resident of Mianyang city, 70 kilometers away from Beichuan county. “Our city is not that seriously affected by the quake but none of us dares to go back into our homes. Instead we stay outside. We felt the tremor, while some upper parts of old houses collapsed. Communications were interrupted at the quake time but recovered today. There is no chaos in the city and all people are now staying in tents in an orderly fashion.”
The Chinese authorities on Tuesday dispatched 18 helicopters in 28 flights to drop food and other rescue materials totaling 12.5 tonnes to Mianyang and other disaster-hit areas. About 2,000 tourists have been stranded in the Aba Tibetan area of the province.
Filed under: China, East Asia, Newsdesk, east_asia, governance | Tagged: aba, beichuan_county, China, china_quake, disaster_relief, humanitarian_assistance, mianyang, min_river, ngaba, Sichuan, sichuan_earthquake, tibetan, travel, wenchuan_county, yingxiu
I grieve for this earthquake in China. I wish the people in this event never give up. I deem the government in China they are good work. they good control the event and plan the migrator. I hope the bad event. It ease off quickly. Please, everybody please cure the nature before the nature become to eat up you. this tragedys are warning from the nature. take care the nature stay long equivalent you take care yourself.