Children main victims of China's quake
The number of deaths from China's earthquake yesterday is reported at 11,921 with almost 7,000 hospitalised and 60,000 unable to be reached. The numbers are likely to climb once communications are restored.
Tuesday 13 May 2008
Zhang Hong, Director of Support Services for Save the Children in China said "Children suffered hugely from the impact of this quake when it struck mid-afternoon while they were gathered in schools. Old and weak buildings also mean that the students affected are spread over an extremely large area. Near the epicentre, around 60-80% of buildings have been destroyed."
The Civil Affairs Bureau (who are coordinating emergency response), and the Education Bureau in Chongqing have asked Save the Children to provide tenting, tables, chairs, pens and other school materials. The charity will be carrying out an assessment of the numbers of schools affected in total tomorrow.
Zhang Hong continued: "It's terrible to watch as school after school is reported collapsed and to see children being rescued from under the rubble. The panic amongst the children as the quake struck caused stampedes in schools as they were evacuated by their teachers.
"Save the Children has been asked to help get these children back into school - a logical area for us to work on seeing as we have staff in the country already. Schools are supposed to be safe areas for children - we must try and reinstall some normality back into their lives now as soon as we can."
Communications, electricity and roads are down in the area closest to the epicentre. Rail lines have been ruptured and mobile phone towers are down. There are currently around 50,000 of China's rescue and relief forces helping with the relief work, some of whom walked in the 45 miles to get to the epicentre down roads impassable to vehicles. While the relief effort from the government has been massive and rapid, the full extent is still being assessed, including the impact on children who were particularly vulnerable while at school during the quake.
160 kilometres north east from the epicentre in Beichuan county, 100 students and teachers are reported dead or missing in a secondary school.
In a neighbouring city to the epicentre, Dujiangyan, 900 children are still feared buried in the quake. In the same area, 420 pupils of Xianghe Middle School were buried when their school collapsed, with 370 of these pupils already confirmed dead.
81 students are confirmed dead in Shifang city, with 920 students from the school still buried. And in a school 30 kilometers from the epicentre, 200 pupils were also trapped by the rubble when their school toppled.
In Deyang and Aba Prefecture near the epicenter several schools have collapsed though numbers of confirmed dead are not yet being reported.
In Chongqing's outer Liangping County, more than five students were killed and 100 were injured when two schools collapsed.
Ends
For more information and interviews please contact the Save the Children media unit on:
Tel - +44 207 012 6841 / +44 7831 650 409
Email - media@savethechildren.org.uk
Save the Children is the world's independent children's charity. We're outraged that millions of children are still denied proper healthcare, food, education and protection. We're working flat out to get every child their rights and we're determined to make further, faster changes. How many? How fast? It's up to you. For further information about our work please visit http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/
