Sichuan: Anger at local officials in An county

I would say, the wrath of heaven is merciless but the officials in our county are even more merciless.
— Resident of An county, Sichuan

The soldier on relief work in this interview is saying that there are basically no more signs of life in Beichuan county, Sichuan, where two-thirds of the population was killed in the quake.

“Everyone has moved out now. The only people left behind are the ones dealing with the corpses because there are so many of them.

Sichuan: Town menaced by subsiding mountain, lakes

May 22, 2008
by RFA Cantonese service reporter Hai Nan

In the countryside near Mianzhu city, Sichuan province, the earthquake has cut off major communication routes, leaving people to struggle across the deep valleys on foot as best they can. Many are now on the move to enquire about loved ones. One woman anxiously scans a hastily pasted series of lists on a wall near a high school in Hanwang township.

“My son was staying with relatives at the time of the earthquake. I haven’t seen them since,” she says, her eyes desperately combing the notices giving information about those found by rescue teams. The stench of bodies still permeates this remote mountain township

Sichuan: Pingwu primary school devastated

This video shows the main gate and dormitory area of what used to be a primary school in Pingwu county, Sichuan. Children’s drawings are still taped to the wall.

Sichuan: “The city of Beichuan no longer exists”

The man in this video explains to Lin Di that there is an entire village; houses, people, everything, buried under the large mound of earth as a result of the earthquake. He says the river waters were building up against the landslide until the People’s Armed Police came and blasted the earth away to prevent further flooding.

Sichuan: Video from aftershock epicenter

Reporting by Mandarin service reporter Lin Di
Tr. Luisetta Mudie

PINGWU COUNTY, Sichuan–The dusty road from Jiangyou city to Pingtong township is obstructed at every turn by hooting traffic and fallen lumps of concrete. Five kilometers from the worst-hit area, buses are forced to halt and their passengers begin to walk towards the scene of the latest tragedy, in which casualties include many children.

Sichuan: Video and interviews from Dujiangyan

RFA Mandarin service Hong Kong-based reporter Lin Di reports from Dujiangyan, Sichuan province:

These forces are specialists in getting people out from under collapsed building, this officer says. They are usually stationed in Yunnan. They have been in Dujiangyan for three days.  “There are forces here from Sichuan, Yunnan, and many other provinces,” he says. The bright lights are running off generators; they brought them along with them. There is no power at all in the city; only vehicle headlights.

In Dujiangyan, the stench of dead bodies fills the air. Most people here are wearing masks. I clamber over the rubble of a collapsed building that must have been four or five-storeys high. A rescue worker tells me that there are still more than a dozen bodies buried underneath the debris.  “We checked,” he says. “They are all dead.”

Chongqing: Many aftershocks reported from quake

Mandarin service reporter Lin Di arrived in Chongqing on Tuesday, the day after the earthquake. Even though the authorities said that the airport in Chengdu was supposed to be open, several flights going there were delayed and eventually cancelled. Lin Di had to rebook a flight for Chongqing instead. He arrived in Chongqing in the middle of the night on Tuesday. According to local authorities, as of 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 13, in Chongqing, 11 people have died in the earthquake and 34 people sustained serious injuries, 118,000 people have been evacuated, and more than two million people in the city have been affected.

Sichuan: Parents wait outside collapsed high school

Video: Two students in a dormitory room at the University of Chengdu, the provincial capital of Sichuan, record their experience during the quake and post it to Tudou.com, a Chinese equivalent of YouTube. It is later reposted on YouTube.

A resident of Dujiangyan who helped to rescue people caught in the collapse of a secondary school building said. “The building is three storeys high, with 18 classrooms. All of the sudden the building collapsed. Many people have died. The People’s Liberation Army are rescuing those trapped under the rubble. Such a terrible tragedy. Many parents are having to wait here for news.”