China quake toll soars as full horror begins to emerge (China Quake Info Thread 2)

AFP ^ | 5/14/08 | AFP

[stlnative]

China quake toll soars as full horror begins to emerge

14/05/2008

DUJIANGYAN (AFP) - The full horror of the devastating China earthquake began to emerge Wednesday as rescuers discovered whole towns all but wiped off the map, pushing the death toll well above 20,000.

Military and police teams punched into the heart of the disaster zone, with 100 troops parachuting into a county that was previously cut off while planes and helicopters air-dropped emergency supplies.

But the message that came back from this mountainous corner of southwestern Sichuan province was that town after town was flattened by the 7.9-magnitude quake that struck two days ago.

The death toll has soared well above 20,000, but that toll is rising by the hour as more information comes in from stricken communities.

"The losses have been severe," Wang Yi, who heads an armed police unit sent into the epicentre zone, was quoted as saying by Sichuan Online news site.

"Some towns basically have no houses left. They have all been razed to the ground."

A least 7,700 people died in the small town of Yingxiu alone, state media cited a local government official as saying, with only 2,300 surviving.

Across Sichuan, countless thousands more people are missing or buried under the rubble of shattered homes, schools and factories.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said 100,000 military personnel and police had been mobilised, indicating the epic scale of the country's worst earthquake in a generation.

The air drop started with planes and helicopters flying dozens of sorties, dropping tonnes of food and relief aid into the worst-hit zone, most of it cut off from the outside world by landslides and road closures.

The destruction around the epicentre in remote Wenchuan county is massive, with whole mountainsides sheared off, highways ripped apart and building after building levelled.

Rescue teams have been seen pulling bodies and badly injured survivors out of the ruins.

As well as Yingxiu, CCTV television said air drops were also made in nearby Mianyang -- where the death toll jumped to nearly 5,500 -- as well as Mianzhu and Pengzhou.

Helicopters also flew to Wenchuan with food, drinks, tents, communications equipment and other supplies.

The rescue effort has been badly disrupted since Monday by heavy rain, and the Meteorological Authority forecasting more later in the week, raising the risk of fresh landslides.

Amid the setbacks, the nation focused on the precious minutes going by for those who were buried under rubble but may have survived.

Cries for help were heard from a flattened school in Yingxiu, where people were forced to try and dig out survivors with their hands, state media said.

"The situation in Yingxiu is even worse than expected," one local official said.

In towns and villages across a swathe of Sichuan, heart-rending scenes were played out as grief-stricken families searched for missing loved ones.

In the city of Mianzhu, where at least 3,000 died, rescuers picked through twisted metal and concrete trying to find people whose voices could be heard under the rubble.

"My younger brother is in there," 42-year-old Li -- his eyes bloodshot from sleep deprivation -- said next to a heap that was once a bank.

The local disaster relief headquarters said rescuers had been able to pull 500 people alive out of the debris of collapsed buildings, but 20,000 in three outer villages were still out of reach.

Wednesday's leg of the Olympic torch relay in eastern Jianxi province began with a minute's silence before the runners set off.

Organisers of the Beijing Olympics said they would scale down the relay as the torch makes it way to the capital for the summer Games, a further knock to its troubled round-the-world journey after earlier protests over Tibet.

World powers including the United States, European Union and United Nations as well as the International Olympic Committee have rallied round with offers of help.

China welcomed the offers but said conditions were "not yet ripe" to allow in foreign rescue teams, citing damage to transport links.

A Japanese foreign ministry official in charge of emergency aid said Japan offered rescue teams with sniffer dogs, but China had made no request.

US President George W. Bush and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao discussed the disaster by telephone, with Washington offering half a million dollars in initial disaster aid.

[twntaipan]

The death toll will likely be much higher than the numbers we are currently seeing. In China a place of 100,000 people is considered a small village.

[glorgau]

China welcomed the offers but said conditions were "not yet ripe"

It takes about a week for the bodies to get fully ripe.

[Aquamarine]

Pinging you all to new thread here.

[IM2MAD]

DirecTV has it on channel 455 too.

[Alice in Wonderland]

Thanks for the link.

[laberphany]

There is no sign that China government would refuse the help from other country.

In addition “mobilizing 100,000 troops” doesn’t seem that large for a country the size of China. That’s only 1 out of 10,000 of the population. It isn’t enough.

I didn’t know how that “1 out of 10, 000” come out.
First, we could put millions people there for rescue. Something simple like those people who go for rescue also needs food, but food is the most important resource in disaster area.
Second, under the limited transportation ability due to road or weather condition, it’s seems more efficiency that we sent water, food and medical equipment there for those survivors.

[laberphany]

Chinese people and government are not so naive just as you think.
Even government refuse the rescue, we also could see your “modern” aircraft and vehicles on TV or internet.

At that time, the road is still closed due to hill slide. Even sky trooper couldn’t get there, not saying your rescue team. Your rescue team is professional at rescue, not for break down rock, all right.

[communion]

China welcomed the offers but said conditions were "not yet ripe"
It takes about a week for the bodies to get fully ripe.
================
infact,China have enough professional succors
now there are more than 7000 fire company corps going to disaster area for rescue,this 7000 man is the best succors of the country ,have all high-tech tools that you can think of
and the onthers are PLA engineer and PLA soldier, this more than 50000 man
do you know the road which connect WenChan??
it's all destroyed by landslide,now , trouble is not have no enough professional succors but cars\crane\material can't arrive WenChuan
there is 3000 meters altiplano
news:PLA 15 army corps parachutist arrived center of area in rainstorm yestoday afternoon, 150 man, lost 4, abscondence 10
where they must to jump form plan?? see WenChuan city pic
another pic:


this is the road which connect WenChuan before the quake,the pic can tell you,in those years how difficult to build the road
don't more bias,now if foreign succors come,maybe make more trouble in command of rescue

[PA Engineer]

Your government did request aid this morning. I imagine that search and rescue canines are high on the list.

[PA Engineer]

Please keep providing information. Thanks for the posts.

[brityank]

Do you have a ping list to ping the Chinese FReepers to this thread?

I fond this list at BykrBayb's post on the first thread, #1136 -- there's probably more to add:

yangsuli; CassieChan; kirler; lzb86404; earthykid; dlzping; xiaojj; nofog; astragalus; FreeSwim; amiu; Phoebe From China; chineuro; freedomvamos; Hawk Lee; ilysony; chinaboy; Hyyia; domainuser; adcycn; communion; Jacky_yan; Frank1984; won; beenway; fengcn; LIZHAO; jack jiang; TonyWang; zhanli; ycl003; Serious HU; syndz; HardCandy; Siglos; hyxing; FreedomChina; Jordiano; gemhalo; lxp; chinasunboy; Youandi; DavFeng; Shinyablue; Gareth VV; humen44; FreeTalker; dglcoolo7; mixultra; dwEA; Bamboo2008; gintama; slip_cn; Tony123; kinocen; luslee; I am from China; Tae.Wong; elsewhere_zzk; Nanaosei_lhn; greener; longbao881111; jortonchina; nutspea; LincFreedom; laberphany

I added All in here to ping them to this new thread.

[Exit148]

I may not be fluent in Mandarin Chinese but my 25 years of study did teach me something. Just how would you translate Mei Guo? In my travels there I have been always greeted with respect and cheer. The Chinese people are no different than people most anywhere. Treat them with courtesy and it is returned

Prayers for these unfortunate people have been ongoing. Since most of the structures are concrete, and with the density of the towns and cities, I can only imagine the horror of the quake.

[r9etb]

“We’re hearing people calling out for help in large hills of rubble and they didn’t have the equipment needed to clear those hills of rubble, so it might be pretty tough for them,” he said. “I can’t imagine just by using your bare hands, for example where I’m standing now there’s just rubble all around me, you could never move it if you wanted to, using your hands.

Ghastly....

[PA Engineer]

In my travels there I have been always greeted with respect and cheer. The Chinese people are no different than people most anywhere. Treat them with courtesy and it is returned

Agreed. It just infuriates me when I see the sadistic, ignorant and trash posts that keep popping up on these threads.

[chinaboy]

Ｎo ,i don't

[brityank]

Thank you, communion, for keeping us informed about the great response that your country is making to this disaster. Just so the others can realise, it took several days for some of the US teams to get authorisation and access to the site on Manhattan for 9-11. The immediate responders, and those in the immediate area were there in minutes, but the logistics of scheduling and planning the effort took some time to fully ramp up. This is no different, only more massive covering many square miles of mountainous terrain with severely damaged infrastructure.

If their own teams can’t get in, how are the foreign teams going to? I don’t think the Chinese government is being unreasonable, and are accepting the aid that they can use.

My prayers and hopes that all of the teams can bring as much help as possible and as soon as safely possible.

[laberphany]

Yes, I’m glad to hear that, we have more resource for this rescue, especially the earthquake rescue experience. What I said just tell guys why we didn’t need foreign rescue team at very beginning.

I agree you at the point that crane is on the top of the list. If those machine could be dismountable for transportation would be better.

[Rennes Templar]

I have watched that channel a few years ago. It was loaded with communist propoganda. I checked it now and no earthquake coverage, only regular “programming”.

[PA Engineer]

I'm sorry but you may have misunderstood canine for crane. Canine is another word for dog. Here is a search and rescue canine:



Search and rescue dogs are critical for finding survivors under debris. They help to focus rescue efforts to those that can be saved.