Disaster
May 15, 2008BEIJING - China warned Thursday that the death toll from this week's earthquake could soar to 50,000 as the government issued a rare public appeal for rescue equipment as it struggled to cope with the disaster. Rescue workers broke through key roads to the epicentre in the race to find survivors.
More than 72 hours after the quake rattled central China, rescuers appeared to shift from going through downed buildings for survivors to the grim duty of searching for bodies in Monday's tremor.
DUJIANGYAN, China - Modern apartment buildings and schools crumbled, smoothly paved highways buckled and bridges collapsed - their flimsy construction no match for the awesome forces of nature.
As the death toll soars from the powerful earthquake that ravaged China's Sichuan province, the scale of the devastation is raising questions about the quality of China's recent construction boom.
BEIJING - Bodies buried under mounds of rubble, bloodied survivors pulled from debris, weeping family members begging for information - the stark images are blanketing Chinese newspapers and television broadcasts.
The country's media are mounting an aggressive effort to cover the worst earthquake in decades, making a major departure from China's past tendency to conceal crises.
DUJIANGYAN, China - Li Ande ran a convenience shop, a solidly middle-class citizen in this quiet tourist town, until the earthquake pulverized his store and his home. Two days on, he's squatting under a tarp with seven members of his extended family.
"We've got no choice. Our house is gone," Li said, sitting under the plastic sheet tied to a tree with an umbrella propped up nearby for added shelter. Meanwhile he waits, hoping "the government can do something for us."
YANGON, Myanmar - The Red Cross estimated Wednesday that the cyclone death toll in Myanmar could be as high as 128,000, a much higher figure than the government tally. The UN warned a second wave of deaths will follow unless the military regime lets in more aid quickly.
The grim forecast came as heavy rains drenched the devastated Irrawaddy River delta, disrupting aid operations already struggling to reach up to 2.5 million people in urgent need of food, water and shelter.
YANGON, Myanmar - Thailand's prime minister says Myanmar's leaders have assured him they are in control of cyclone relief operations and don't need foreign experts.
Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej also says top junta officials have assured him they can guarantee there are no cases of starvation or disease among the country's estimated two million cyclone survivors.
PICHER, Okla. - No government money will be awarded for rebuilding any of the 114 homes levelled by a deadly tornado that tore through one of the country's most polluted areas, state and federal officials said Tuesday on a tour of the region.
Saturday's tornado was responsible for seven deaths in Picher. The severe weather killed another 20 people in the Plains and the Southeast.
MIANYANG, China - The 20-year-old waitress was camped outside a restaurant, a borrowed pink down jacket offering little protection against the dank spring night. She fought off sleep, fearing that an earthquake aftershock would bury her.
Street lamps illuminated the city of Mianyang on Tuesday night, but all the buildings were dark and deserted after the government ordered them evacuated.
OTTAWA - Canadian aid agencies say they are managing to help cyclone victims in Myanmar, despite the country's nearly-closed border.
Officials from Oxfam, CARE and other groups say they fear Canadians won't donate money to the Myanmar cause due to reports about reluctance by the military junta to let foreign workers in.
GENEVA - International aid agencies are standing ready to help China recover from its massive earthquake, but the Chinese appear to have operations well in hand, relief officials said Tuesday.
The United Nations sent a letter to Chinese authorities informing them that a team of experts is ready should China want aid, said Elisabeth Byrs, spokeswoman for the UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs.
CHENGDU, China - State media report that the death toll from a powerful earthquake in China has climbed to nearly 10,000 in the worst-hit province.
The 7.9-magnitude quake has devastated a region of small cities and towns in an area of Sichuan province north of the capital of Chengdu. China's official news agency says about 600 people died in Shifang city, which was the site of a major chemical leak.
YANGON, Myanmar - The United States delivered its first relief supplies to Myanmar on Monday, as the UN urged the reclusive country to open its doors to foreign experts who can help up to two million cyclone victims facing disease and starvation.
Myanmar reported that the official death toll from cyclone Nargis had risen by nearly 3,500 to 31,938. Nearly 30,000 others remain missing, and the UN and others have said the death toll could reach 100,000 or higher.
OTTAWA - The devastating earthquake that rocked central China on Monday is offering a new challenge for relief agencies and governments still trying to help with the cyclone catastrophe in Myanmar.
The Canadian government has offered its military Disaster Assistance Response Team to help in Myanmar, but a Chinese-Canadian group is now urging that it be sent to China instead.
YANGON, Myanmar - Myanmar's monumental task of feeding and sheltering 1.5 million cyclone survivors suffered yet another blow Sunday when a boat laden with relief supplies - one of the first international shipments - sank on its way to the disaster zone.
Meanwhile, as the official death toll jumped to more than 28,000, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband warned that "malign neglect" by the country's military rulers was creating a "humanitarian catastrophe of genuinely epic proportions."
YANGON, Myanmar - Myanmar's state television says the death toll in last week's cyclone has jumped by about 5,000 to 28,458.
It says that the number of missing now stands at 33,416.
YANGON, Myanmar - A Red Cross boat carrying rice and drinking water for cyclone victims sank Sunday, while the death toll jumped to more than 28,000 and aid groups warned of a humanitarian catastrophe.
The double-decker boat that sank was carrying supplies for more than 1,000 people and was the first Red Cross shipment to the disaster area, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said. All four relief workers on board were safe, it said.
PICHER, Okla. - Rescue crews and search dogs hunted for survivors or bodies Sunday in the piles of debris left by a tornado that rumbled through this former mining town a day earlier, killing at least seven people.
The same storm system killed at least 14 others in Missouri and one person in Georgia.
TORONTO - An additional 600 residents of the northern Ontario First Nation community of Attawapiskat are being evacuated due to a severe threat of flooding.
Ontario government officials say the breakup of the Attawapiskat River is creating ice jams that could pose significant risk of flooding in the community about 500 kilometres north of Timmins.
