China, Tibet: Tibetans cut off by quake

From Mandarin service reporter Qiao Long:

The Tibetan government-in-exile completely lost contact with Tibetans living in Ngaba, Gansu (in Chinese, Aba) after the earthquake, without any news emerging about the situation in local monasteries and nunneries. Ge Sang, an officer with the exiled government said: “We completely lost contact with them. As communications have been paralyzed, there isn’t any information coming from there.”

The earthquake has captured the attention of Tibetan monks in China. Monks at the Drepung monastery in Lhasa are planning a prayer ritual on Wednesday to pray for peace for people in the tremor-hit areas.

China: Quake aftermath in Sichuan

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: