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China declares day of mourning for quake
victims
AFP , JIEGU, CHINA
Wednesday, Apr 21, 2010, Page 5
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Children try to protect themselves from strong
winds amongst ruins in the quake-hit tow of Jiegu, Yushu County, in northwest
China¡¦s Qinghai Province, on Monday.
PHOTO: EPA
China declared a national day of mourning for victims of last week¡¦s earthquake
as rescuers worked around the clock yesterday under fickle, icy weather
conditions.
The government said the nation would be in mourning today with flags around the
country and at embassies and consulates worldwide flown at half-mast a week
after the magnitude 6.9 quake hit a remote corner of Qinghai Province.
Public entertainment activities around the country were also to be postponed as
a mark of respect on the day, the State Council said.
The death toll in the earthquake in northwestern China stood at 2,046 people,
with 193 more missing, state media reported. Another 12,000 people have been
injured and tens of thousands left homeless.
Meanwhile, rescuers continued to sift through collapsed buildings in the town of
Jiegu ¡X the main population center in the disaster zone ¡X as they were battered
by hailstones, said a foreign NGO worker in Jiegu who asked not to be named.
Authorities warned that snow and plummeting temperatures would hit the region
yesterday, adding to the difficulties of devastated survivors forced to camp
outside after thousands of homes collapsed.
¡§We estimate that in the next few days, the rain, snow and low temperatures will
harm relief work and [those working in] transport, medicine and health should
strengthen their guard,¡¨ the National Meteorological Center said.
More than 12,700 soldiers and paramilitary police were now taking part in rescue
work, People¡¦s Liberation Army Major General Wang Zhenguo (¤ý®¶°ê) told reporters
in Beijing.
Monks in maroon and saffron robes also continued to sift through the rubble,
amid hopes of finding more survivors after two miracle rescues on Monday.
Two Tibetan women and a four-year-old girl were pulled out of the rubble by
rescuers on Monday, more than five days after the quake struck.
The disaster region sits high up in a rugged area at an elevation of around
4,000m, which government officials have blamed for hindering efforts to reach
victims with large-scale relief sooner.
The area, which borders on Tibet, is part of the traditional Tibetan homeland
and more than 90 percent of its population is from the occasionally restive
ethnic minority.
Authorities have said language problems have also complicated rescue efforts as
relief workers have had trouble communicating with locals, many of whom speak
only Tibetan.
However, amid the distress caused by the disaster, stories of heroism and
survival trickled from the region.
At the Number One Minorities Middle School, all 830 students and teachers were
saved when the deputy principal felt a small tremor hours before the quake and
evacuated everyone from their dorms, the China Youth Daily said.
And a 16-year-old Tibetan girl dug out nine members of her family alive with her
bare hands after the quake struck, Xinhua news agency reported.
Meanwhile, local authorities had started to focus on post-quake recovery, with
one of their main tasks being tallying up the exact number of girls and boys
orphaned by the disaster.
Many families had already contacted the Qinghai civil affairs department to
inquire about adoptions, the state-run Global Times reported.
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