Posted on 05/14/2008 12:37:27 AM PDT by 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.
56 affected countries and towns are all reached today.The communication of Wenchuan is back to normal today too.
News corrected:
It’s rumor that”total 150 paratroopers .4 dead,10 abscondence,and the left 136 rescued”.
The fact is “The parachute jump plan was cancelled finally on May.13 due to the bad weather.On May 14, 100 paratroopers began to work again,and the firt team is 15 paratroopers.”
I’ve been keeping up with the threads about the earthquake and thank you and your countrymen for all the contributions you’ve made on Free Republic. Please know many people all over the world are keeping the Chinese people in prayer..
Have you learned anything more today about the stability of the dams? I read there’s a lot of concern that some make break.
A 1 year kid is alvin after 48 hours earthquake.
7pm on May.14,a baby and her/his grandmother are digging out in Hanwang area Deyang by Shanghai Rescue team.Both are safe.
< img src=” http://i32.tinypic.com/34p05m9.jpg
“ >
Dujiangyan Taiping power plant is close to collapse,and related people are transferred by plane.
Is he taking voice lessons from Hillary Clinton??
Stick around and you will learn of American humor.
Hello Don,
You are very “humorous”,but i dislike it. All Chinese people like Premier Wen Jiabao.Pls don’t play joke on this.
If my poor English has expressed my meaning in derogatory sense,it’s my fault.
I still say little has changed with China.
The fact that we were going there in the Nixon era and visitors began to be allowed again is one change for the good. However, you, like me can read the facts and the issues for yourself, and you will understand what I mean if you compare what the Chinese thought in the 1980s with what they think NOW about us.
I don’t need to spend any time there to know what the government thinks. I can read my briefings just fine. Everything I can read that is classified is little different from what you can read in the unclass formats out there in the media.
Many people simply chose to ignore the FACTs and they want “trade”.
Trade with China is good for China. Bad for the US.
Keep pushing that idea — and we will see who’s on “top” economically speaking in 10 more years.
Well, the feeling is mutual. You and your friends here have made me laugh too.
And I have no intent on disrupting your thread. But if I catch some of the new folks in lies, I will point them out.
I’m only one person, but I’m backed by a whole lot of folks smarter than me when it comes to world affairs, and politics. I don’t have to know it all, but I certainly have more resources than most people here to know when someone is not being honest.
I’ll be seeing you around the threads perhaps.
And, thank you for your concern for our people. It's really a heart-breaking disaster, so many people lost their lives or their family memebers. Our country, and we Chinese all pull together through the disaster.
our sincere prayers & concerns go out to the people of China. It was a terrible tragedy & one that like our hurricane a few years ago is a steep learning curve. You can be ready “on paper” for disasters, but the reality is in the events that unfold & the follow up.
I am going to repeat a post I did on another thread. as it applies here.
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Hi welcome to Free Republic and I am quite impressed with your English!
Most of us know very little about China & have a lot of misinformation no doubt. It is great when some one like you is willing to enlighten us... but then again, we know just like in this country there are often many sides/impressions to the facts.
We get the sensational news which is often bad news re: China as well as most other nations. That would give the overall impression that things are terribly bad for all citizenry.
When the war in Iraq just started I was new to Free Republic & one of the posters was a Chinese gal (I think maybe early 20s ) who loved the American threads but was afraid to be caught by the govt. I am hoping things have changed for her & others. She eventually stopped posting & I always worried she was caught & got into big trouble for having American connections
I love Google earth & love to soar across your immense country
I hope you will stay & not be turned off by some who might be rude & unkind. Many of us hold friendship to be a very important part of FRee Republic. ...NOT just news.
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