China earthquake death toll rises to 70,000 with 20,000 still missing
Pastor Dale Morgan
China earthquake death toll rises to 70,000 with 20,000 still missing*
AFP - Monday, June 23
BEIJING (AFP) - - The number of people missing from China's massive
earthquake has risen abruptly by more than 1,000, state media reported
Monday.
The overall toll reached 20,000 on Sunday, an increase of 1,500 from the
day before, according to the Beijing Youth Daily.
The reason for the steep rise was that migrant workers have started
reporting their relatives missing to authorities, after gradually
returning to their homes in Sichuan province from elsewhere in China.
The latest confirmed death toll from the devastating May 12 earthquake
was 70,000 on Sunday, unchanged from the day before, according to the paper.
Sichuan, a relatively poor province in southwest China, relies on export
of labour to other parts of China for a large part of its income.
Cities and towns were flattened by the earthquake, which measured 8.0 on
the Richter scale, leaving millions homeless.