Press Centre 2008/05/13: Emergencies and Disasters
A student sits in the ruins of his school classroom in Guancheng village in Chongqing after an RS 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Sichuan Province, China, on May 12, 2008. Photograph courtesy of National Geographic News © 2008
School collapses as major earthquake hits China
Beijing — UNICEF China is deeply concerned that large numbers of children could be affected by a major earthquake in Sichuan Province. China Central Television reports that in one middle school in the city of Du Jiangyan, near Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan, a three story school building collapsed and 900 students are trapped in the rubble.
According to Government sources, the latest death toll from the quake stands at 8,600 after a series of large earthquakes struck the Wenchuan district of Sichuan at approximately 14:30 hrs (Beijing Time) on May 12. The tremors were felt by UNICEF staff in Beijing some 930 miles to the north.
Primary school students in northwest China’s Gansu Province take shelter under their desks during an earthquake that devastated much of neighbouring Sichuan Province on May 12, 2008.
Photograph courtesy of National Geographic News © 2008
UNICEF is attempting to gather information about casualties, but information from the affected areas is extremely limited. It is reported that cell phone networks have been substantially affected by the earthquakes. There are additional reports that approximately 5,000 have died in Beichan county alone in Sichuan, with another 10,000 wounded. Reports of additional casualties have also been received from Gansu and Yunnan provinces.
UNICEF works extensively with government counterparts in Sichuan province. Sichuan is one of the poorest and most populous provinces in China. The total population of the province is approximately 90 million. The population of the capital Chengdu is over 10 million. UNICEF is concerned that the number of people killed, injured and affected by this large earthquake will rise as additional affected areas are reached by rescue teams over the coming hours.
UNICEF and other UN agencies are not usually requested to assist the government of China in its response to natural disasters. We have been informed that the National Disaster Reduction Centre of China — the official coordinating body for disaster response — has dispatched rescue teams numbering in the thousands supported by the Peoples Liberation Army.
For further information, please contact:
Dale Rutstein, UNICEF China, Tel: +861065323131
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OTHER PRESS RELEASES ON EMERGENCY AND DISASTER ISSUES
- Some 130 UNICEF technical and operations staff continued to travel to the areas affected by Cyclone Nargis today, identifying the greatest threats to children and women and delivering much–needed supplies.
- Once again we are witnessing how children pay the price of war. Of those who have lost their lives or have been wounded since the commencement of hostilities in the Lebanon, one in three are children.
- 14 January 2005: İstanbul -- Tarkan leads the call for aid in a television spot prepared by UNICEF for the Southeast Asia earthquake and tsunami appeal.
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