China rescuers search for crashed quake chopper
CHENGDU, China (Reuters) - Chinese rescuers searched onMonday for a military helicopter carrying injured quakesurvivors that crashed in heavy fog in the mountains of Sichuanprovince, state media said.
On board the Mi-171 helicopter were 14 survivors andmedical workers and five crew, when it crashed while returningfrom its 64th relief mission to carry epidemic preventionexperts to Lixian county.
It crashed on Saturday near Yingxiu, close to the quake'sepicentre, Xinhua news agency said, adding that the helicopterwas still missing and no one on board had been found.
China has mobilised its military to unblock roads, clearrubble and deliver food, water and tents to millions displacedby the May 12 earthquake. Rescuers are racing to clear lakesand set up housing before the summer rainy season begins.
As of June 1, officials said the earthquake had killed morethan 69,000 people, with nearly 19,000 missing and around368,500 injured, Xinhua said.
The earthquake has gripped China, unleashing a flood ofdonations and volunteers to help in relief work.
Troops withdrew from a dangerous "quake lake" formed by amassive landslide at Tangjiashan after clearing a channel forwater to flow out from behind the blockage. The water had risento within seven metres of the lowest point of the unstablenatural dam by this weekend, threatening downstreamcommunities.
Trucks trundled across Sichuan with materials forpre-fabricated housing, designed to replace stifling hot andleaky tents.
In Yingxiu itself, dynamite was being used to clear rubbleand unsafe buildings. Workers vigorously sprayed disinfectantto guard against epidemics as overcast and muggy weathersettled in.
"As time goes by, the major killers of inpatients aremultiple organ failure and complicated drug-resistantinfection, instead of crush syndrome and acute renal failure inearly periods after the quake," Xinhua a quoted Ministry ofHealth spokesman, Mao Qun'an, as saying.
Mao said that deep burial of the dead in Sichuan had been"scientifically handled" and water sources would not becontaminated.
President Hu Jintao travelled to the southeast corner ofGansu Province, where towns along the fault line were alsoheavily damaged. He visited a Pakistani medical team, one ofseveral foreign teams doing relief work in China.
(Writing by Nick Macfie; Editing by Alex Richardson)