China says over 70,000 dead or missing from quake
CHENGDU, China (Reuters) - China raised the number of deador missing from a devastating earthquake to more than 70,000 onTuesday, as rescuers found another survivor eight days afterthe huge tremor hit.
A government statement said the number killed had nowtopped 40,000, and state news agency Xinhua reported that afurther 32,000 were missing.
Authorities had previously said they expected the finaldeath toll to exceed 50,000. More than 247,000 were injured.
In Wenchuan county, epicentre of the May 12 quake inmountainous Sichuan province, rescuers found a man alive after179 hours buried in the rubble, state media said.
Ma Yuanjiang, 31, a power plant executive, spoke after hewas rescued, but his body was "as fragile as that of a newbornbaby", Chongqing Xinqiao hospital president Wang Weidong said.
"The next 12 hours are crucial for Ma's survival. Thepatient finished the first half of a life miracle, now we aretrying to do the second," Xinhua quoted Wang as saying.
His rescue came as authorities tried to restore calm in theprovincial capital, Chengdu, after tens of thousands rushedinto the streets overnight alarmed by a television predictionof another powerful earthquake.
But as darkness fell over Chengdu on Tuesday thousands ofresidents prepared makeshift shelters to sleep outside, tooafraid to stay overnight in their homes.
That, along with fresh aftershocks and forecast heavy rain,compounded the difficulties for military, government andprivate workers trying to ensure millions of homeless are fedand housed.
Anger was building among bereaved parents in Sichuan overthe way many school buildings had collapsed, burying wholeclassrooms full of children. In one town, in a rare publicprotest, hundreds demanded punishment for anyone guilty ofshoddy construction.
Chengdu residents rushed from their homes before midnighton Monday, alarmed by the prediction of another earthquakeafter the 7.9 magnitude tremor on May 12.
Hundreds of aftershocks have been felt over the past week,bringing down more buildings and causing landslides. A fewhours after the television report, a 5-magnitude tremor wasfelt.
But on Tuesday, provincial television screened interviewswith a series of seismological bureau officials to explain theprediction and calm a jangled populace.
"Just because you can feel aftershocks, it doesn't meanthey will hurt you. Of course, that doesn't mean you shouldstand in harm's way," said Han Weibing, researcher with thelocal seismological bureau.
The quake warning also prompted panic in neighbouringChongqing municipality and Guizhou province.
ANGER OVER SCHOOLS
The pandemonium showed how the main quake and itsaftershocks have stretched nerves to breaking point.
"I think the television coverage is overdoing it. They'rescaring people," said a hotel worker surnamed Li, who spent thenight in a public park.
The most lamented victims of the quake have been thethousands of children who died when school buildings collapsed.
In Juyuan town, hundreds of grieving parents demanded anannual memorial day for their children, punishment of officialsor builders responsible for shoddy schools and compensation.
"How come all the houses didn't fall down, but the schooldid? And how come that happened in so many places?" demandedZhao, whose two daughters were crushed to death.
"We want a memorial day for the children, but we also wantcriminal prosecution of those responsible, no matter who theyare."
As China's ruling Communist Party seeks to maintain astaunch front of unity and stability after the quake, theincipient protests by parents could be troublesome, for many ofthem blame official graft and laxity, more than nature, for thedeaths.
Xinhua quoted a military source as saying rescuers hadreached all the villages and towns in Sichuan province byTuesday evening.
Whole towns have been flattened in mountainous areas northand west of Chengdu, and about 5 million people are homeless,prompting the government to seek foreign help in the form oftents.
The quake has prompted a huge outpouring of public sympathyboth at home and abroad, with 13.9 billion yuan raised to date.
(Writing Nick Macfie and Jeremy Laurence; Editing by RogerCrabb and Alex Richardson)