China says quake toll likely above 50,000
15/05/2008| IslamWeb
China said Thursday that over 50,000 people had likely died in the devastating earthquake that hit its southwest as time runs out to save survivors buried in the rubble of broken communities.
Experts said the search-and-rescue operation was entering its most crucial phase yet four days after the 7.9-magnitude quake struck, with the chances of finding survivors diminishing by the hour.
"The deaths are estimated to be over 50,000," state television said, citing figures from the national quake relief headquarters.
The epic scale of Monday's quake is becoming clearer as teams hike into the remote epicentre in
"If there are some survivors under such conditions, it would be a matter of luck, or a miracle," said Zhang Zhoushu, vice director of the state-run China Earthquake Disaster Prevention Centre.
Yet amidst the tragedy, miracles did occur.
In Yingxiu, a town at the epicentre, rescue workers pulled an 11-year-old girl out of the rubble 68 hours after the quake demolished her school, an AFP reporter who made it into the stricken community witnessed.
Rescuers were sifting through the debris when they heard a voice.
"It's wonderful, she's alive!" a delighted onlooker shouted as the girl was pulled out on a stretcher and given a small cup of water.
"Most people are saved in the first three or four days," Willie McMartin, director of the British-based charity International Rescue Corps, told AFP in Hong Kong where his team is trying to get permission to enter
"People can survive up to 15 days, but that is when you are talking about miracles, and miracles do not happen very often."
As the military ramped up its rescue efforts with more troops and aircraft, a new threat emerged from creaking dams and reservoirs shaken by the quake.
State-run television said authorities had found "dangerous situations" at more than 400 reservoirs -- two of them major -- across five provinces.
Underlining the desperate efforts,
"As long as there is only a glimmer of hope we will never give up," vowed
Premier Wen Jiabao ordered another 30,000 troops and 90 military helicopters to the area to bolster operations, while the military began its first major air drops of tens of thousands of food packets, clothes and blankets.
Sniffer dogs were also sent in to help look for survivors.
"We must use all our forces, and save lives at whatever cost. Life is the most precious thing," Wen told a meeting at quake relief headquarters.
The military is also deploying 30 more transport aircraft for supplies and troops, and an AFP reporter saw dozens of army trucks heading to the disaster zone from the provincial capital
"The worst has been watching people die, knowing you could not do anything for them," said Li Rui, a doctor in Wudu, where beds were laid out in a former open-air market.
Across the province, rescue teams and volunteers fought to clear mounds of concrete slabs, metal and wood, dragging out bodies and bloodied survivors of
A girl murmuring "Save me, save me" was pulled from the concrete heap that was once her school some 50 hours after it collapsed in the quake.
Xinhua said spillways had been opened at the Zipingpu Dam near the quake's epicentre to release water following reports of "dangerous cracks" threatening Dujiangyan downstream.
AFP