Grief lingers in Tangshan

By Chen Heying in Tangshan Source:Global Times Published: 2016/7/29 0:18:00

Xi calls for stronger disaster relief measures


On the 40th anniversary of the deadly Tangshan earthquake, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday called for stronger disaster prevention, reduction and relief capabilities.

Xi made the remarks on Thursday while inspecting Tangshan, North China's Hebei Province, laying flowers at a memorial and paying his respects to all those who died in the deadly earthquake.

The 7.8-magnitude quake struck Tangshan on July 28, 1976, killing more than 242,000 people and destroying virtually all of the city's buildings. Estimates say 7,200 families died when their homes collapsed as they slept.

Xi also visited a nursing home for earthquake victims, a majority of whom are disabled. Xi encouraged them to live their lives to the fullest extent.

He said there are millions of disabled people in China and none of them should be left behind, as China vowed to build a well-off society by 2020. He called building a well-off society a "historic duty" for contemporary Communist Party members, and that serving disabled people is an important part of it.

Sad memories linger

When the Tangshan Earthquake Ruins Memorial Park, where the names of those killed are etched on huge black walls, opened at 7 am on Thursday, a crowd, including elderly folk, children and disabled people in wheelchairs and on crutches brought baskets of flowers.

Upon entering, they scanned through tens of thousands of names on both sides of the wall.

Some placed photos of the deceased next to the names, while others placed eulogies with chrysanthemum flowers.

The park features 13 black walls which serve as gravestones, since many of the bodies were never recovered.

A man in his 50s surnamed Wu stood still and murmured in front of the names of his eight brothers and sisters for about an hour, a pair of crutches supporting him.

"Mother! My two elder sisters [aged over 80], my family and I are coming to see you," a man surnamed Liao, 68, declared in front of the wall, their heads tilted skyward as they wept.

Overcome with grief, Liao's sibling trembled and cried, "I'm sorry I failed to come and rescue you."

Liao told the Global Times that since he works and lives in Handan, some 600 kilometers from Tangshan, he returns to his hometown once every 10 years. "It will be more difficult for me to pay  my respects to my mother as I grow older," he said.

Zhang Jinglan, 81, wiped tears from her eyes in front of the names of her two daughters and a son. She put several plastic flowers, mumbling that all the chrysanthemums were sold out in the market. "Had they survived the quake, they would have been in their 60s," she told the Global Times.

Also losing her husband in the earthquake, she was urged to divorce her second husband in 2004 by his offspring before his death to exclude her from sharing the inheritance, she sadly said.

The quake has broken about 15,000 nuclear families - over 7,000 wives and 8,000 husbands were widowed, The Beijing News reported in 2006. Those who remarried after the quake tend to be fragile due to their attachment to their previous spouse and opposition from their children who fight over their property.

Li Shengtang, 81, was a dispatcher at the city airport. Li told the Global Times that he and his four colleagues dispatched over 3,000 flights to carry soldiers, medical staff, food and other earthquake relief materials into the city, and to transfer those hurt to hospitals outside the city.



Posted in: Society

blog comments powered by Disqus