China quake: 69 dams near collapse
Pastor Dale Morgan
China quake: 69 dams near collapse*
* Story Highlights
* China's water ministry says 69 dams near collapse after quake
* Paraplegic rescued 11 days after May 12 earthquake, state-run TV
reports
* Death toll surpasses 60,000, officals say
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- China warned Sunday that dozens of dams were in
danger of collapse in Sichuan province following the 7.9-maginitude
earthquake that devastated the region earlier this month.
A woman and child walk among collapsed houses in Zundao township
Saturday in Sichuan province.
more photos »
The warning came as authorities revised up the death toll from the May
12 disaster to 62,664 with another 23,775 missing and a powerful
magnitude 5.8 aftershock hit the area.
China's water ministry on Sunday warned that 69 dams were close to
bursting their banks.
Meanwhile, state media reported Sunday that rescue workers had two days
earlier pulled an 80-year-old paraplegic man from the rubble of his
home, 11 days after he was trapped by the quake.
The man, Xiao Zhihu, had been trapped for nearly 266 hours.
The beam of Xiao's house in Mianzhu City collapsed during the quake,
trapping him, China's state-run television CCTV said.
The station said Xiao's wife could not go and call for help. She brought
him food, until he was found and freed by rescue crews Friday.
Since the quake struck, workers have made several other dramatic
rescues. But the numbers have dwindled in recent days as time has passed.
China's central government put the death toll from the quake at 60,560
with another 26,221 people missing and 353,290 injured.
The government estimates that 45 million people, mostly in the Sichuan
province, were affected by the massive earthquake and that five million
were left homeless.
On Saturday, China's Premier Wen Jiabao gave United Nation
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon a dramatic look at the damage, taking him
to a town near the epicenter.
"The world will not forget," Ban told Wen, who appealed the U.N. chief
to help raise international aid for the region.
Wen said no infectious disease outbreaks have developed despite the
harsh living conditions for survivors. Wen optimistically predicted that
life would return to normal in the quake area in about three months.
advertisement
The central government estimates that 45 million people, mostly in the
Sichuan province, were affected by the massive earthquake and that 5
million were left homeless. Video Watch rural villagers' struggle for
daily survival »
China put out an urgent call for tents and medical supplies to help
victims of the earthquake.