Sh1nob1
05-13-2008, 03:20 PM
Death Toll From China Quake Soars Past 13, 000
By REUTERS
Published: May 13, 2008
Filed at 2:51 p.m. ET
DUJIANGYAN, China (Reuters) - The death toll in China's earthquake climbed past 13,000 on Tuesday and looked set to rise much higher after media said some 19,000 people were buried in rubble in just one area.
Rain and severed roads hampered rescuers in the mountainous area near the epicenter of Monday's 7.9-magnitude quake in the southwestern province of Sichuan, China's worst earthquake in three decades.
State media reported devastation as troops reached stricken villages near the epicenter in Wenchuan, a remote county cut off by landslides about 100 km (60 miles) northwest of the provincial capital, Chengdu.
Officials announced late on Tuesday that 500 Wenchuan residents were confirmed dead, Xinhua news agency reported. But the toll there and elsewhere is likely to soar.
Thirty People's Liberation Army (PLA) troops arrived at Wenchuan's Yingxiu township and rescued 300 residents, Xinhua said. But only 2,000 were found alive in the town of 12,000, according to a local official.
More... (http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-quake.html)
By REUTERS
Published: May 13, 2008
Filed at 2:51 p.m. ET
DUJIANGYAN, China (Reuters) - The death toll in China's earthquake climbed past 13,000 on Tuesday and looked set to rise much higher after media said some 19,000 people were buried in rubble in just one area.
Rain and severed roads hampered rescuers in the mountainous area near the epicenter of Monday's 7.9-magnitude quake in the southwestern province of Sichuan, China's worst earthquake in three decades.
State media reported devastation as troops reached stricken villages near the epicenter in Wenchuan, a remote county cut off by landslides about 100 km (60 miles) northwest of the provincial capital, Chengdu.
Officials announced late on Tuesday that 500 Wenchuan residents were confirmed dead, Xinhua news agency reported. But the toll there and elsewhere is likely to soar.
Thirty People's Liberation Army (PLA) troops arrived at Wenchuan's Yingxiu township and rescued 300 residents, Xinhua said. But only 2,000 were found alive in the town of 12,000, according to a local official.
More... (http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-quake.html)