. | . |
China launches probe into schools hit in quake: state media Beijing (AFP) May 16, 2008 China announced Friday it had launched a probe into why school buildings collapsed in the earthquake, warning that anyone found to have been responsible for shoddy construction would be punished. Close to 7,000 schools were destroyed in southwestern Sichuan province by Monday's 7.9-magnitude earthquake, which struck in the afternoon when many students were in class or taking their daily naps. The state-run Xinhua news agency said that the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development has "ordered local authorities to investigate the reasons why school buildings collapsed in the earthquake." "If quality problems do exist in the school buildings, we will deal with the persons responsible strictly with no toleration and give the public a satisfying answer," education ministry official Han Jin said, quoted by Xinhua. "We want to express our deepest condolences to the teachers and students who lost their precious lives in the quake," he said. Numerous reports have emerged from Sichuan province of crushed schools that have killed large numbers of pupils, a loss made all the more painful as China has a policy of allowing families to have only one child each. In one of the rare pieces of good news, an AFP reporter in the cut-off city of Yingxiu on Thursday witnessed rescuers pulling a semi-conscious 11-year-old girl out of the rubble of her primary school. But well over half of the 500 students at her school are believed to have died in the disaster. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters A world of storm and tempest When the Earth Quakes
China okays rescuers from Russia, SKorea, Singapore: state media Beijing (AFP) May 16, 2008 China has accepted offers from Russia, South Korea and Singapore to send rescue teams to earthquake-hit Sichuan province, state media reported early Friday. |
|
The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2007 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |