BEIJING, China. The earthquake hit with a force of 7.8 on the Richter scale at 2:28 pm in Whenchuan, the south - western region of China. At around 5 pm local time, the State-run news agency Xinhua.net reported that 8,533 people have died in the Sichuan Province alone, including many children that died when 8 schools collapsed. The death toll increases by the hour and are expected to be a lot higher. More than 10,000 people are reported missing. 80% of the buildings in Sichuan have collapsed including a hospital and a chemical factory that has leaked more than 60 tons of liquid ammonium.
Rescue work is now on the way to recover the 900 children buried beneath the rumble of 2 schools in the city of Dujingyan. Many children have already been found dead but some has been pulled out of the rumble alive. The Wenchuan Province is located in the middle of the epicenter and with communications interrupted to the Province, it is unknown how bad the situation is.
Chinese media reports that rumble have blocked all access roads so no rescue forces have been able to reach the Province. "We do all we can to get there but the roads are covered with boulders and derbies" says Li Chongxi in charge of a rescue team. It is expected that the data on the death toll will rise dramatically when Authorities reach the Region.
Whenchuan, is a mountainous region and contains the Wolong nature reserve for Panda protection. The main town is located in a part of Sichuan habituated by Tibetans and belongs to Aba. It was impossible to contact the major city of Chengdu with 13 Million habitants this morning, located 100 Km south east of the epicenter. But communication links are now established. The President of China Hu Jintao gave immediate instructions to deploy all possible resources for this emergency. The Prime Minister Wen Jiabao left for the area immediately after receiving news of the disaster. A large amount of military troops has been deployed and are expected to reach the region later today.
The Earthquake was noticed in a large part of China. In Beijing 1,500 km away skyscrapers ware swaying and offices where evacuated after that shock waves reached the city 7 minutes after the quake. Schools and soccer matches as canceled. Even Shanghai and Honking reported that the earth was moving as well as Taiwan, Hanoi, Vietnam and Thailand's capital Bangkok.
Ilustrations: ©AFP Graphic and ©AFP/XINHUA
