YANGWA, China: On Wednesday, amidst the devastation, the family members of an earthquake casualty grieved her passing in makeshift shelters, enduring freezing temperatures atop the northwest Chinese mountains.
A Monday night earthquake claimed the lives of at least 131 individuals and left over 900 others injured, as per reports from Chinese media. The majority of the fatalities occurred in Gansu province, with the remaining in the adjacent province of Qinghai.
Amidst the dim pre-dawn hours, Ma Lianqiang found himself beside his deceased wife, swathed in blankets within a makeshift shelter illuminated by a lone overhead light. Tragically, his wife was struck and trapped by debris while seeking refuge at her mother’s residence due to her illness.
Remarkably, Ma and his extended family managed to survive despite their home in Yangwa village, Gansu province, being severely damaged. His father heroically rescued Ma’s injured son from the rubble, while his uncle recounted the harrowing experience of hearing the earthquake and witnessing their house crumble.
“We crawled out in fear,” the uncle, Ma Chengming, said.
At a Wednesday news conference, a provincial official reported that approximately 80,000 individuals had been relocated to Gansu, where plummeting temperatures necessitated the use of relief tents. In Qinghai, efforts were underway to locate 16 individuals missing following landslides that had impacted homes. The death toll in the province increased by four to 18, although it was uncertain if the four missing individuals were among the deceased. In Gansu, search and rescue operations were largely concluded by Tuesday afternoon, with the death toll remaining at 113 and the number of injured rising to 782. Combining this with Qinghai’s count of 198 injuries, the total number of injured approached 1,000.
