Chongqing | May 12
A massive earthquake struck central China on Monday, killing more than 7,600 people and trapping nearly 900 students under the rubble of their school, raising fears the overall death toll could increase sharply.
In Beichuan county, just east of the epicentre, 80 per cent of the buildings had collapsed and some 10,000 people were injured aside from the 3,000 to 5,000 dead, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
Xinhua cited the Sichuan provincial government as saying 7,651 people died across the province, but the situation in at least two counties remain unclear.
The 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck in the middle of Monday afternoon - when classrooms and office towers were full - 57 miles (92 kilometers) northwest of Sichuan's capital of Chengdu.
The quake emptied office buildings across the country in Beijing, could be felt as far away as Vietnam, crashed telephone networks and hours later left parts of Chengdu, a city of 10 million, in darkness. |
