Injury toll in Sichuan earthquake rises to 65
Print Edition
THE number of people injured in Saturday’s earthquake in southwest China’s Sichuan Province rose to 65 yesterday, the local government said.
Earlier reports said that five people had been killed and 54 injured in the magnitude 6.3 quake, but the latter figure rose after information from remote areas reached Kangding, capital of the Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, the publicity office of the prefecture government said.
All of the injured have been sent to hospital and are in stable condition, it said.
The quake affected more than 108,000 people in 55 towns in Garze, and damaged more than 27,400 homes. More than 9,100 displaced people were forced to stay in government shelters or with their relatives.
The central government has allocated a relief fund of 50 million yuan (US$8.1 million) to help the heavily Tibetan populated county.
Rescuers have set up more than 1,800 tents as temporary homes for the quake victims. Quilts and blankets have also been distributed.
People affected by the quake are coping well as “the relief supplies have been sent to them,” said an official from the publicity office.
“The priority now is to help people to get through the winter with proper accommodation,” said the official who declined to give his name.
At a resettlement camp in the village of Qiangba in the town of Tagong — the quake’s epicenter — local Tibetans set up tents outside their homes in which to spend the night.
“The officials told us not to stay in our homes overnight in case of strong aftershocks. It’s not safe inside,” a farmer named Qiakar said.
Now the family of four is sleeping in a small tent, with quilts piled in one corner.
“I wasn’t cold sleeping here. The quilts are thick and the wind can’t get in,” said Qiakar’s son.
Telecom services, power supplies and traffic have resumed in the quake zone, but the water supply remained off as of yesterday. Rescuers are working around the clock to repair the facilities, the official said.
The earthquake was the latest to hit Sichuan, which neighbors the Tibet Autonomous Region.
In May 2008, more than 80,000 people were reported dead or missing after a magnitude 8 quake struck Wenchuan, while at least 196 people were killed in April last year, when a magnitude 7 tremor hit Lushan.
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