In the days after the Jing'an fire, there's been a great deal of confusion over the incident: the cause, why it spread so fast, the number of people missing or hurt, but we've had the most conflicting reports over how many lives were lost. In our last post about the fire, we reported that the death toll had risen to 79, relying on a Guardian article and an AP press report for that figure, but it is incorrect. It seems that when news came out that 26 bodies had their identities confirmed via DNA testing, several media mistook that to be an additional 26 deaths confirmed. Those 26 confirmed identities are part of the 53 already accounted for. more ›

Yes, you heard that right. Just when we thought it was all over, another one has struck. This was the strongest aftershock since the deadly quake, but for such a strong aftershock (6.4 on the Richter scale) which managed to topple 70,000 houses and leave anothor 200,000 in danger of collapse, the death toll was pretty low at two and another several hundred more injured. Our friend, Jane Voodikon, editor of Chengdoo magazine informs us this has come at a time when people were finally "kind of not panicking" and starting to get back to their normal lives. But one aftershock, and they have all been sent running out of buildings once again. Running out of buildings on such a frequent basis must be a traumatising experience. more ›