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 08 October 2008 00:18 BST

Quake claims 15,000 lives in China

Wednesday, 14 May 2008 19:44
The earthquake struck on Monday morning
Up to 15,000 people have been killed by Monday's devastating earthquake in China, officials have confirmed, with the same number of people missing.

The tolls of the dead and missing from the Xinhua news agency, the country's official media portal, are expected to rise further in the coming days.

Thousands of people remain trapped under rubble after the 7.9-magnitude earthquake struck Sichuan province, south-west China.

The Chinese government has since launched a major rescue operation, deploying over tens of thousands of troops to search for survivors.

One town, Yingxiu, saw nearly all of its inhabitants killed by the earthquake. Xinhua reported the first people arriving in the town by foot as saying the situation was much worse than they had expected.

Helicopters are the main method of deploying aid as most of the roads have been blocked by mudslides and rocks.

"There is an urgent need for medical staff, medicine, food and drinking water," an official for the Aba prefecture government told Xinhua.

On Wednesday Chinese president Hu Jintao hosted a high profile meeting of the Communist party's central committee, where members were told: "Attention should be paid to maintain social stability."End of story


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