China urges quake rescuers not to give up hope

Enlarge Photo Soldiers rescue a man who survived in the rubble of a chemical factory in Shifang,...

Sat, May 17 06:39 AM

By Emma Graham-Harrison

YINGXIU, China (Reuters) - Chinese President Hu Jintao urged rescuers in the southwestern province of Sichuan to race against time to save lives, days after the most destructive earthquake to hit modern China, state media said on Saturday.

China has put the known death toll at over 22,000 but has said it expects it to exceed 50,000. About 4.8 million people have lost their homes.

Hu told rescuers that they should push on with rescue efforts although the best chance of finding survivors in the wrecked buildings had passed, Xinhua news agency said.

"Although the time for the best chance of rescue, the first 72 hours after an earthquake, has passed, saving lives remains the top priority of our work," Hu told distraught survivors still searching for relatives.

"Quake relief work has entered the most crucial phase. We must make every effort, race against time and overcome all difficulties to achieve the final victory of the relief efforts."

Premier Wen Jiabao, also visiting the region, said the 7.9 magnitude quake was "the biggest and most destructive" since before the Communist revolution of 1949 and the quick response had helped reduce casualties.

Wen was comparing the disaster with the 1976 tremor in the northeastern city of Tangshan, which killed up to 300,000 people.

Anger has been mounting at the large number of schools which collapsed and there is concern about the safety of a number of dams and reservoirs which have been weakened by the quake.

In Sichuan and neighbouring Chongqing, at least 17 reservoirs have been damaged, with some dams cracked or leaking water. Several are on the Min River, which tumbles through the worst-hit areas between the Tibetan plateau and the Sichuan plain.

WATER, POWER NETWORKS DAMAGED

The Ministry of Water Resources sent nine emergency repair teams to assess the risk.

Tap water systems in about 20 cities and counties have been seriously damaged. Power grids and other networks, such as cooking gas pipes, are in ruins.

The country is also on precautionary alert against possible radiation leaks, according to a government website.

The disaster area is home to China's chief nuclear weapons research lab in Mianyang, as well as several secret atomic sites, but no nuclear power stations.

China has sent 130,000 troops to the disaster area, but roads buckled by the quake and blocked by landslides have made it hard for supplies and rescuers to reach the worst-hit areas.

Offers of help have flooded in. The first foreign rescue teams, from Japan, Russia, Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore have arrived in Sichuan province.

At China's request, the World Food Programme said it was sending enough ready-to-eat meals for 118,000 people.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced emergency funds of up to $7 million and said more would be available.

The United States said it had provided China with satellite images of earthquake-stricken areas, and would send two planeloads of relief for victims this weekend.

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