00:01:42
ITN
China quake death toll nears 10,000
China quake death toll nears 10,000
Rescuer workers are still struggling to reach the worst-hit areas after a powerful earthquake hit southwest China, killing nearly 10,000 people.Reports inside China indicated the toll from the country's worst earthquake in three decades is likely to soar, with up to 10,000 people still buried under rubble in the Mianzhu area of Sichuan province.Meanwhile, there have been unconfirmed reports that a group of 15 British tourists are "out of reach in Wenchuan", the epicentre of the earthquake that had a magnitude of 7.9 on the Richter scale.Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, who rushed to Sichuan, ordered roads to Wenchuan, a hilly area about 62 miles from the provincial capital Chengdu that was completely cut off by the quake, to be opened by midday.But rain and thick clouds meant that military helicopters dispatched to the area could not yet land, and if the weather does not improve soldiers mobilised to help with rescue work would try to parachute in.In the Sichuan city of Dujiangyan - about midway between Chengdu and the epicentre - there are scenes of devastation, with buildings reduced to rubble and bodies in the streets.Rescuers are working frantically, pulling bodies from homes, schools, factories and hospitals demolished by the quake, which rolled from Sichuan across much of China.In the same city, about 900 teenagers were buried under a collapsed three-storey school building. Premier Wen bowed three times in grief as the first 50 bodies were pulled out."Not one minute can be wasted," said Mr Wen, a trained geologist. "One minute, one second could mean a child's life."Frantic relatives tried to push past a line of soldiers surrounding the school, desperate for news of their children. "We're still pulling out people alive, but many, many have died," said one medical worker.At a second school in Dujiangyan, fewer than 100 of 420 students survived, according to reports.The initial huge tremor has been followed by a series of aftershocks. "Some are still very strong," said a Dujiangyan resident. "We have put up tents outside to sleep in."Neighbouring areas were also affected, with 150 reported dead in Longnan city of the northwestern province of Gansu and school collapses in the municipality of Chongqing.In Gansu, the quake caused a train to derail, spilling petrol tanks and sparking a fire.In Sichuan's Shifang, where the quake sparked a major chemical leak, about 600 people died and as many as 2,300 remain buried. Two chemical plants collapsed, causing more than 80 tonnes of liquid ammonia to leak out.In Chengdu, many residents slept outside or in cars as aftershocks were felt through the night in a city where at least 45 people died and 600 were injured.
ITN | May 13, 2008
