China quake rescuers battle landslides, debris
CHINA: Clogged roads, debris and landslides impeded rescuers
Monday as they battled to find survivors of a powerful earthquake in
mountainous southwest China that has left at least 188 dead.
Huge boulders blocked rescue vehicles along roads leading to some of
the worst-hit areas, and some areas were only accessible by foot along
broken passes through the rough terrain.
Survivors including the elderly were carried out on the backs of
neighbours as well as by helicopter, as rescuers were also bolstered by
thousands of civilian volunteers who rushed to the area to help.
State broadcaster CCTV showed orange-suited emergency workers making
desperate dashes past cliff-edges, trying to avoid sudden landslides in
a region weakened by more than 2,000 aftershocks. Industrial diggers
clawed through debris including the mangled remains of cars and
motorbikes crushed by tumbling rocks, to clear roads also clogged by
huge queues of traffic.
The 6.6-magnitude quake which hit Sichuan province Saturday has left
another 25 missing and more than 11,000 injured, according to state
media, while local authorities said some 17,000 families have lost their
homes. Forecasts of rain in the disaster area increased fears of deadly
landslides. “I dare not go anywhere near a mountainside,” a woman named
Zhu told AFP as she arrived from the devastated village of Baoxing into
the centre of the county of Lushan. “Many people are worried that the
rain will bring more devastation,” she added.
Another woman told AFP that she left her rural home for the busy town
centre in Lushan because she was worried it was not strong enough to
withstand more of the aftershocks that have shaken and terrified the
region. Premier Li Keqiang left the quake zone on Sunday, state media
reported, after rushing to the area the day before to direct rescue
efforts, in his first public test on disaster management since being
appointed to the top post in March.
More than 17,000 Chinese soldiers and police have joined the rescue
mission and five drones were sent to capture aerial images of the
damage, state news agency Xinhua said.
The disaster comes five years after a massive quake in Sichuan which
occurred just 200 kilometres (124 miles) from Lushan, and was one of the
worst to strike China in decades, leaving 90,000 dead or missing.
AFP |