The death toll from China’s massive earthquake could soar to more than 50 000, state media reported on Thursday, as rescuers struggled to help survivors and hope faded for the thousands buried under rubble. About 20 000 are confirmed dead after Monday’s 7,9 magnitude quake and 25 000 were buried in areas rescuers have struggled to reach.
The toll from China’s deadliest earthquake in decades climbed to nearly 15Â 000 on Wednesday as thousands of troops, firefighters and common civilians battled to save thousands of people buried under rubble and mud. The government sent 50Â 000 troops to south-western Sichuan province to dig for victims.
Dying towns are rare in booming China, but the expanses of rubble and abandoned homes that ring the once-wealthy oil centre of Yumen mark it out as one of them. And though it is home to just a few thousand people, in a nation of over 1,3-billion, Beijing’s stability-obsessed bureaucrats are fretting about their fate.