SOH News

Breaking News – Earthquake in Sichuan: Over 12 000 killed, 90 000 buried alive

On the afternoon of April 13th, the Sichuan Provincial government held a press conference, and announced as of 4pm of the same day, the death toll from the earthquake which originated in Wenchuan had surpassed 12 000, with 26 206 injured, and 94 004 still buried under rubble. More than 346 houses were damaged, and many school buildings had collapsed. Current statistics indicate the number of students who were struck by the disaster, could be close to 2400. Reports of missing people and those found buried under rubble continue to increase.

An estimate of 1000 students and teachers in The Beichuan Middle School in Beichuan county, were found to have died from the disaster. One building in the Juyuan Middle School of Dujiangyan also collapsed, investigators fear the 900 teachers and students have also died in the event. In Dongqi Middle School and Dongqi Institute of Technology of Hanwang Township, 230 out of 1000 students and staff were buried alive. In Longjv Primary school, 24 bodies have been uncovered from rubble, approximately 200 are still trapped.

According to reliable sources, 35 kilometres from the epicentre in Deyang City of Mianju County, 10 000 people have been reported missing. A steam and gas turbine factory was completely destroyed while 6000 workers were inside the factory buildings. According to Chinese Communist government figures, hundreds of people may be buried at Guang District, in which schools were also seriously damaged.

In the region of the epicentre, Wenchuan County suffered large scale collapses in city housing. 30000 residents have evacuated their homes, with 70 000 people in Wenchuan still unaccounted for. To date, there has been no news from regions of Yingxiu, Xuankou, and Wolong nearby the epicentre. Transport and communication has been completely blocked. In Shifang City, two chemical factories also collapsed, leading to liquid ammonia leakage, thus 6000 residents were forced to evacuate.

The above was brought to you by Tian Ling, Li Le and Chris Thomas for Breaking News on the SOH Radio Network.