Only quarter of quake victims identified

ONLY a little more than a quarter of the 70,000 people who died in a massive earthquake that struck Sichuan province in May have been identified, a Chinese official said yesterday, as authorities rushed to prepare stricken areas for the coming winter.

Wei Hong, vice-governor of Sichuan, said 19,065 bodies had been identified since the May 12 quake razed huge swaths of the lush, mountainous south-west province.

Another 18,000 people are still missing.