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Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - Web posted at 9:30:29 GMT Staggering devastation after China's earthquake BEIJING - China's biggest earthquake for a generation left tens of thousands dead, missing or -buried under the rubble of broken communities yesterday, triggering a desperate nationwide relief effort. |
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Troops and rescue teams struggled by air, land and water to reach areas of southwestern China stricken by Monday's massive 7.9-magnitude quake that demolished schools, homes and factories. Footage on television showed shattered buildings, roads split in two, whole mountainsides sheared off, and survivors fighting to free themselves from the debris. The organisers of the Beijing Olympics said they would scale down the torch relay now going through China following the quake - a further knock to its troubled round-the-world journey after earlier protests over Tibet. US President George W Bush and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao discussed the disaster in a telephone call yesterday, Chinese state media reported. But all attention was focused on the massive relief effort underway in the province of Sichuan which bore the brunt of the quake . Officials said more than 12 000 people had died in that province alone and more were reported killed elsewhere, but the figures are expected to soar as a clearer picture emerges of the staggering devastation. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao admitted the situation was worse than initially estimated as aftershocks continued to pummel the region. "At present, we have great difficulties carrying out our rescue work," he told a crisis meeting at disaster relief headquarters in Dujiangyan . Countless victims were reported buried under heaps of rubble, and officials pleaded for urgent supplies of food, medicine and rescue equipment. China mobilised its 2,3 million-strong armed forces to lead the search and rescue effort, but attempts to reach the worst-hit areas were badly disrupted by torrential rain and the sheer scale of the damage. A team of 1 300 troops and army medics finally made it to Wenchuan county, right at the epicentre, after hiking through rugged terrain. However the military was forced to scrap plans to air-drop food and medical supplies to some areas because of the bad weather. Nampa-AFP |
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