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China makes urgent appeal for tents
China made an urgent global appeal on Thursday for millions of tents to shelter destitute survivors of its worst earthquake in a generation.
- Agencies
- Published: 00:19 May 23, 2008
Mianyang : China made an urgent global appeal on Thursday for millions of tents to shelter destitute survivors of its worst earthquake in a generation.
More than 80,000 people are now confirmed dead or missing, the government said yesterday. Authorities had previously said they expected the final death toll to exceed 50,000.
Ten days after the disaster, the focus has shifted almost entirely to staving off disease in overflowing tent cities of the homeless. There is even a proposal to bring the Olympic flame through the disaster zone to lift spirits.
State Council Information Office figures showed that the number of dead now exceeded 51,000, an increase of 10,000 on the previous day's toll. It said more than 29,000 were still missing.
The State Council (cabinet) added that more than 288,000 people had been injured by the 7.9 magnitude quake on May 12.
Hundreds of aftershocks, heavy snow in mountains close to the epicentre and a forecast of more rain have compounded difficulties for military, government and private workers trying to deliver aid and provide shelter.
Some 5 million people were left homeless by the quake. In the countryside, where countless homes are too damaged or unsafe to live in, many farmers live in encampments of makeshift shelters.
China yesterday raised the possibility that United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon, who yesterday took "a message of hope" to Myanmar's cyclone victims, might visit Sichuan, the southwestern province worst hit by the quake.
UN chief's visit
"As to whether or not Ban Ki-moon will come to China, especially the disaster zone, after visiting Myanmar, China is currently still in talks with the United Nations about this," Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a news conference.
As more foreign medical teams arrived on the scene in the mountainous Sichuan province in the southwest, foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said the country needed 3.3 million tents or other portable shelters. "We hope the international community will prioritise tents in providing assistance," he told a press briefing in Beijing. The government on Wednesday pledged more than $13 billion (Dh47.7b) for relief and reconstruction for the victims
In a bid to cheer up survivors, organisers announced that they would bring the Beijing Olympic torch through Sichuan province from August 3 to 5, making it the final stop before the Games open on August 8.
Tibet's government-in-exile, meanwhile, called for a halt to protests targeting the torch as a mark of respect to the earthquake victims.
Dalai Lama praises China
The Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, praised China's transparency about the earthquake, saying it showed that the communist country was "becoming more open".
"It is a wonderful, an encouraging sign," the Dalai Lama told BBC radio during a visit to London.
Medics from countries including Italy, Japan and Russia are now working on the ground, with a German mobile hospital as well as US and WHO experts due.
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