China earthquake: Troops join race to help survivors

by Agency Reporter

China has deployed 2,500 soldiers to the south-western province of Yunnan to help search for survivors after an earthquake killed at least 398 people, BBC reports.

More than 1,800 people were injured when the magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck on Sunday.

Attempts to reach the epicentre have been hampered by heavy rain, with some rescuers forced to travel on foot.

State broadcaster CCTV said the earthquake was the strongest to hit the mountainous province in 14 years.

President Xi Jinping called for “all-out efforts” to find survivors as he dispatched soldiers to the area.

They joined more than 300 police and firefighters from Zhaotong and about 400 emergency workers and sniffer dogs from across Yunnan province in the rescue operation.

But rescuers trying to deliver the much-needed supplies are struggling to reach the area, reports the BBC’s Celia Hatton in Beijing.

Unrelenting rain and continuing landslides have left many roads in the region too damaged to use, she adds.

Premier Li Keqiang has travelled to the area to oversee the rescue operation. According to AFP, quoting Xinhua news agency, he had to walk for “over three miles” to reach the worst-hit village in Yunnan on Monday.

Xinhua said its reporters in Ludian county – where the epicentre of the earthquake is located – “saw drenched survivors sit along the muddy roads waiting for food and medication. Some half-naked survivors were quivering in the rain”.

Equipment brought to the area included life-detection instruments and digging equipment to help with rescue efforts.

At least 12,000 houses were reportedly destroyed in the earthquake, with another 30,000 damaged.

The government had sent 2,000 tents, 3,000 folding beds, 3,000 quilts and 3,000 coats to the disaster zone, Xinhua said.

Chen Wangchang, head of Ludian County hospital in Yunnan’s Zhaotong City, said temporary tented medical facilities had been set up.

“All the houses had already collapsed when we arrived. Dead bodies were everywhere and there were a lot of injured people.”