Town shut amid fears of epidemic

Source: Xinhua  |   2008-6-28  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

THE centre of Beichuan County, one of the worst-hit towns in the May 12 quake in China's southwestern Sichuan Province, was closed again early on Thursday for epidemic prevention.

"On the concern of epidemic disease control, the closure will last a long time as the weather is heating up," said Tan Jiamin, director of the county's public security bureau.

More than 600 police from Mianyang City have posted "special control" signs and blocked the roads to Beichuan with two check points.

Only police and medical workers with special passes are allowed in.

The hot weather and the large amount of people had brought many difficulties to the prevention work, Tan said.

The remaining bodies had begun to decompose and attracted many flies and mosquitos. The place has a lot of people from different professions passing through daily, which puts more pressure on the prevention work, Tan said.

"Some local residents dig for their family members with (bare) hands, which can easily cause infection."

The town would be disinfected daily by military medical workers, Tan said.

Beichuan was sealed off since May 20 for disease control. It was reopened several days ago to allow residents to fetch their identification cards and possessions.

Many residents had swarmed back to search for their possessions under the debris. However, any items removed from Beichuan had to be disinfected and no food was allowed out.

The residents also went back to commemorate their family members for the last time.

Meanwhile, the threat of flood forced an urgent evacuation of 20,000 people living downstream of three quake lakes detected on Thursday by helicopter reconnaissance in quake-hit Dujiangyan City of Sichuan Province.