Hunt for survivors as China quake toll hits 600

RESCUERS with shovels and bare hands were still clawing through rubble late last night to hunt for survivors of a quake in a remote area of China which killed over 600 people and left thousands homeless.

A huge relief effort was under way to send vital aid such as tents and medical supplies to the disaster zone, as doctors set up makeshift hospitals and rescuers battled bitingly cold weather and a lack of oxygen. Thousands spent another night without shelter in freezing temperatures after the 6.9 magnitude quake, which hit Yushu county in northwestern Qinghai province on Wednesday, destroying almost all the houses in Jiegu, the local capital.

The number who perished rose to 617, including dozens of children, while the number of injured stood at 9,110, state television reported.

The death toll was expected to rise further, with more than 300 still buried under collapsed mud-and-wood houses and school buildings in the mainly Tibetan region after the deadliest quake in China in almost two years.

“Freezing weather, high altitude and thin air have all made rescue efforts difficult,” Hou Shike, deputy head of the China International Search and Rescue was quoted as saying by the Xinhua state news agency.

The government dispatched thousands of rescuers, including soldiers and medical teams to the zone on the Tibetan plateau known as the Roof of the World. “The situation is really bad here. The damage is huge,” said Pierre Deve, a Frenchman working for a Chinese non-governmental organisation in Jiegu.

“Only a few buildings are still up,” he told AFP by phone. “There were bodies everywhere in the rubble.”

Foreign governments offered their help as international aid officials warned that the priorities would be providing shelter, medical aid, food and water and ensuring sanitation to prevent the spread of disease.

The rugged terrain and remoteness of the region, around 800 kilometres (500 miles) or at least 12 hours by road from the provincial capital Xining, were hampering efforts to bring in much-needed supplies.

The quake and a series of strong aftershocks damaged roads and triggered landslides, disrupting telecommunications and knocking out power, although the government later said electricity had been restored to dozens of towns.

Dazed survivors told harrowing stories of loved ones being crushed to death under their homes. “There are 10 people in my family and only four of us escaped. One of my relatives died. All the others are buried under the rubble,” Samdrup Gyatso, 17, told Xinhua after his two-storey home crumbled.

The civil affairs ministry said nearly 40,000 tents were expected to be sent to the area. But the local government in Yushu — the quake’s epicentre — reported a lack of medical supplies.