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China Cremates Victims of Earthquake

   VOA News 17 April 2010

Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS

   Tibetan  monks  throw  a body wrapped in cloth during a mass cremation
   for  victims  of  Wednesday's  earthquake  in  Yushu County, northwest
   China's Qinghai province, Saturday, April 17, 2010.

   Buddhist  monks  cremated hundreds of earthquake victims Saturday on a
   huge  funeral pyre near the epicenter of the disaster in a remote part
   of northwestern China.
   Bodies were trucked to the site in Qinghai province, where the Tibetan
   monks  lowered  them  into  a  huge  trench  and  set them alight in a
   Buddhist ceremony.
   The  official  death  toll  from  this  week's earthquake has risen to
   1,144, as the search for survivors continues.
   China's  Health Ministry said Friday more than 1,000 of the critically
   injured have been taken out of the devastated region to hospitals with
   better medical facilities.
   More  than  11,000  were injured in Wednesday's 6.9 magnitude quake in
   the Yushu region of Qinghai province. Some 300 are still missing. Â
   Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao finished his two-day visit to the quake-hit
   region  on  Friday.   He  said  the whole country is grieving for the
   victims of the earthquake, many of them ethnic Tibetans.
   Rescuers,  including  Tibetan Buddhist monks, are searching the rubble
   for  survivors.   The  Yushu  region's  high  altitude  and  freezing
   temperatures are hampering rescue efforts.
   The  earthquake  and  its  aftershocks  toppled  poorly-built  houses,
   leaving hundreds of thousands homeless.
   President  Hu  Jintao headed back to China after canceling much of his
   tour of Latin America nations. Â
   Xinhua  quoted  a  local  official  in  Qinghai as saying more than 85
   percent  of  houses  collapsed  in Jiegu, known to Tibetans as Gyegu.Â
   The  official says large cracks have appeared on many of the buildings
   that remain standing.
   A  crack  that appeared in a reservoir in the area is causing concern,
   with workers racing to prevent a potential flood.
   Two  years  ago,  a  massive  7.9  magnitude quake hit the neighboring
   Sichuan province, killing nearly 90,000 people.
   Some information for this report provided by AP and Reuters.

   China's History of Devastating Earthquakes
   May 2008: 7.9 magnitude earthquake hits southwestern province of
   Sichuan; nearly 90,000 dead or missing
   February 2003: 6.8-magnitude earthquake kills more than 260 in wetern
   region of Xinjiang
   February 1996: 7.0-magnitude earthquake hits southwestern Yunnan
   province, more than 300 killed
   July 1976: 7.8-magnitude quake levels northern city of Tangshan in
   Hebei province; official death toll estimate more than 240,000
   February 1975: 7.3 magnitude quake in northeastern province of
   Liaoning kills 1,300 people
   May 1974: 7.1-magnitude quake hits Sichuan and Yunnan. Death toll
   estimates range between 10,000-20,000
   January 1970: Earthquake measuring at least 7.5 hits Yunnan; more than
   15,600 people dead

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