Earthquake Updates: 32,477 dead, foreign rescue teams, lakes burst, three days of national mourning and suspension of Olympic torch relay

  • The official death toll in the Sichuan earthquake has been revised upwards to 32,477. Deaths have also been recorded in Gansu, Shaanxi, Chongqing, Henan, Hubei and Yunnan. Within Sichuan, the Mianyang and Deyang regions suffered the most fatalities, with estimated deaths of 11,874 and 10,341 respectively. 209,900 people are reported injured, and the final death toll is expected to exceed 50,000
  • Four foreign teams from Russia, Singapore, Japan and Korea have been allowed in to take part in rescue efforts. Teams have also been dispatched from the Greater China regions of Hong Kong and Taiwan.
  • A lake with a volume of 1.6 million cubic metres formed after the quake in Pengzhou City burst yesterday and residents have been evacuated with no casualties reported. A similar lake in Beichuan is expected to burst very soon, causing thousands of residents to run to the hills while paramilitary officers, rescue workers, journalists and troops have been ordered to evacuate.
  • Very strong aftershocks continue to rock the region on a frequent basis, triggering mudflows, and further hampering rescue efforts (see Al-Jazeera report on the right). It also did not help that a very powerful storm hit Chengdu yesterday. Editor of English-language magazine Chengdoo Joe tweets about the new long crack on the ceiling of his apartment.
  • Shanghaiist's contacts in Chengdu say a lot more tents are popping up all over the city as many of the survivors have been moved from other quake-ravaged regions to the relative safety of the provincial capital. Some of these tents were blown away by yesterday's storm, and camping stores are said to be cashing in on the shortage of tents, selling small tents for as much as RMB500.
  • English language bookstore Chengdu Bookworm has put together a list of urgently needed items including camp beds, tents, plastic/rubber gloves, medicines, etc.
  • Three days of national mourning for victims of the earthquake starting this Monday and the Olympic torch relay has finally been suspended.

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By Kenneth Tan in on May 18, 2008 6:46 PM Comments 2 Likes Likes

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