198 Russian rescuers head to quake-hit areas

Source:Xinhua Published: 2013-4-22 14:06:33

A total of 198 rescuers from Russia will arrive at an airport in southwest China's Sichuan Province around noon on Monday and rush to the quake-hit Ya'an City, according to the provincial seismological bureau.

The headquarters of the China Earthquake Administration has advised the Russian rescuers to go the worst-hit Baoxing County.

The latest Xinhua reports said an aftershock-triggered landslide cut off an important road connecting Baoxing with neighboring counties and Dujiangyan City on Sunday night.

Nearly 1,000 Chinese rescuers, including armed police, firefighters and officers from water and power supply departments, are continuing rescue efforts there.

Drizzle and suspended traffic have hampered efforts to deliver relief supplies to the county, which has a population of 60,000 and has been difficult to reach since the quake.

At least 26 locals have been confirmed dead and another 2,500 injured as of Sunday morning.

Airborne remote sensing images showed that more than 60 percent of buildings in the county seat sustained damage. The latest statistics show that the quake destroyed more than 26,400 houses and damaged 214 reservoirs in the county.

Power supplies have not been fully restored in Baoxing, many parts of which were still shrouded in darkness on Sunday night.

 

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