Daily Talk Forum
  • Advertise
  • Search
  • Member List
  • Calendar
Hello There, Guest! Login Register
Daily Talk Forum › General Discussions › Current Affairs, News and Politics v
« Previous 1 ... 25 26 27 28 29 ... 172 Next »

Sichuan quake killed 19,000 children, China says



Post Reply 
 
Thread Rating:
  • 0 Votes - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Threaded Mode | Linear Mode
Sichuan quake killed 19,000 children, China says
cyrano Offline
Diamond Member
*****
Diamond Members

Posts: 3,573
Joined: May 2007
Reputation: 3
Post: #1
Sichuan quake killed 19,000 children, China says

By Mark McDonald

HONG KONG: In China's first official acknowledgment of the scope of children's deaths in the massive Sichuan earthquake in May, a senior government official said Friday that more than 19,000 children had perished.

The 7.9 magnitude quake left more than 88,000 people dead or missing, and it was widely known - largely through the protests of grieving parents - that many of the dead were schoolchildren.

Parents have complained bitterly about the shoddy construction of school buildings, the use of inferior materials and official corruption.

The government has attempted to stifle the outcry by deploying riot police to break up public protests and by offering payments to parents who have filed court suits against local and provincial officials.

At a press conference Friday in Beijing, news agencies said Wei Hong, the executive vice governor of Sichuan, the province hit hardest by the quake, said the children's death toll was 19,065. He noted that the toll was incomplete and that officials were still tallying the final numbers.

Ma Zongjin, chairman of an official damage-assessment committee, said in September that more than 1,000 schools had suffered from poor construction or being built on fault lines.

"Recently, we've built school buildings relatively fast," Ma said, "so some construction problems might exist."

Beijing has put the total direct financial loss from the earthquake at $123 billion.

Meanwhile, Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency, said Friday that an official in the quake-battered city of Mianyang had committed suicide by jumping out of a window on the 15th floor of a downtown hotel.

He Zonghua, 40, director of the city's human resources and training department, had lately been suffering from depression, Xinhua said, noting that He lost no friends or relatives in the quake.

Dong Yufei, the director of the county's disaster relief office in Mianyang killed himself last month due to depression and stress. He hanged himself in a temporary office.

Xinhua said that Dong, who lost his 12-year-old son and other relatives in the quake, left a suicide note that read: "I feel too much pressure from life and work every day. I cannot hold on any further. And I just want a good rest."
11-21-2008 07:39 AM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply


« Next Oldest | Next Newest »
Post Reply 


Possibly Related Threads...
Thread: Author Replies: Views: Last Post
  10 killed in Misrata attack Int News 2 1,703 09-16-2011 07:57 PM
Last Post: George
  China tries to quash underground churches Int News 2 1,306 09-12-2011 04:03 AM
Last Post: George
  Strong quake rocks Alaska forwardone 2 1,464 09-11-2011 06:52 AM
Last Post: ItzAngel
  Norway attacks: at least 91 killed in Oslo and Utøya island forwardone 3 2,544 09-11-2011 04:12 AM
Last Post: George
  One killed in Auckland tunnel blast Int News 1 1,259 06-04-2011 04:21 PM
Last Post: ItzAngel

  • View a Printable Version
  • Send this Thread to a Friend
  • Subscribe to this thread
Forum Jump:


User(s) browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)

Advertise on Daily Talk Forum
  • Webmaster Forum
  • cPanel Hosting
  • SEO Directory
  • Toronto
    • Contact Us
    • Daily Talk Forum
    • Return to Top
    • Lite (Archive) Mode
    • RSS Syndication
    • Help
    • Portal
    • Membership
    • Advertise
    • Banners
    • Privacy
    • Rules

    • Review DTF at Alexa
    • Review DTF at Nortons
    • Site Map

    • Links
    • Your Link Here
    Current time: 01-15-2021, 06:28 PM Powered By MyBB, © 2002-2021 MyBB Group Theme created by Justin S