Staff members of a local hospital clear the ruins hit by the earthquake in Lixi Township, Huili County, southwest China’s Sichuan Province, Aug. 31, 2008. An aftershock of 5.6 magnitude hit the juncture area of Renhe District in Panzhihua City and Huili County in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture on Sunday afternoon, one day after the 6.1 magnitude quake hitting the same area. The death toll of Saturday’s quake has risen to 28, while no damage caused by the aftershock has been reported.(Xinhua Photo)

    BEIJING, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) — The 6.1-magnitude quake that jolted southwest China’s Sichuan and Yunnan provinces on Saturday has killed 32 people, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

    Sichuan reported 27 deaths and the other five were in Yunnan, the ministry said Sunday night.

    The quake that occurred at 4:30 p.m Saturday also injured more than 400 people.

    The epicenter was at the juncture of Renhe District in Panzhihua and Huili County in Yi Autonomous Prefecture of Liangshan, Sichuan. It was at a depth of 10 km, the China Earthquake Administration said.

    QUAKE IMPACT AND DAMAGE

    Areas affected by the quake were Panzhihua and Huili, both in Sichuan, and Yi Autonomous Prefecture of Chuxiong, Bai Autonomous Prefecture of Dali, Lijiang and Zhaotong cities, all in Yunnan Province. Kunming, the Yunnan capital, was also hit.

    Most of the fatalities, however, were in Huili, Chuxiong and Panzhihua. All the three areas are on the southern end of the fault line of the May 12 quake that left more than 69,000 people dead and nearly 18,000 missing.

    Another 6.0-plus magnitude quake, however, was not expected in the area in the next two weeks, said Liu Jie, chief forecaster of the Beijing-based Chinese Seismographic Information Center, on Saturday.

    More than 300 aftershocks were also monitored in the quake zone as of 5 a.m. on Sunday, according to the national earthquake networks.

    The networks monitored an aftershock of 5.6 magnitude in the same area of Saturday’s quake at 4:31 p.m. on Sunday.

    Panzhihua City Quake Control and Relief Headquarters on Sunday confirmed more than 70,000 people in the city were affected by the quake. In addition, more than 32,000 people were displaced.

    In total, 38,425 residences suffered damage in the quake, of which 363 homes were toppled. Seven reservoirs, 22 highways and three bridges were also damaged.

    The Panzhihua education authority said cracks were found on the buildings of more than 100 schools, of which 66 were in Renhe, a hard-hit district in the city.

    ”I am afraid these schools will not open for the new semester starting on Monday,” said Shen Zhiqiang, an official with the Panzhihua City bureau of education.

    ”The figure (of schools affected by the quake) might go up, as damages in some primary schools based in remote mountainous villages were not reported yet due to inconvenient transport conditions,” Shen said.

    Further south, 600,000 people in five regions of Yunnan were affected by the quake. This included five deaths, more than 170 injured people and the destruction of 130,00 residences, said a Yunnan Provincial Bureau of Civil Affairs source.

    The worst hit was Chuxiong where the five deaths were recorded. Destroyed were 111,448 homes, 656 school buildings and 213 buildings totaling 65,554 square meters of floor space. The direct economic loss was put at 500 million yuan (about 73 million U.S. dollars), according to the office for the quake control and relief headquarters of Chuxiong.

    RELIEF OPERATION

    On Saturday, China Earthquake Administration launched a level-three emergency response and dispatched an on-site working team to offer assistance after the quake struck.

    In addition, the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs began a level-four emergency response mechanism at 5 p.m.. The civil affairs departments in Panzhihua and Yunnan began a class-three emergency response to cope with the aftermath of the quake.

    Panzhihua government officials rushed to the quake zone to direct relief efforts. Relief materials, including water, food and300 tents, as well as emergency financial aid of 5 million yuan, were sent to the quake-affected areas.

    More than 2,000 people in Huili were mobilized to join the relief operation that was hampered by heavy rain late on Saturday and early Sunday.

    In total, 1,200 tents, together with about 10 tons of food and water were sent to quake zones in Huili, according to Huang Ling, the Huili County Government deputy chief.

    On Sunday, Sichuan Provincial Weather Observatory issued a forecast saying the weather in the coming week would be overcast with showers or thunder showers, making the relief effort difficult.

    The Yunnan Provincial Bureau of Civil Affairs said it had already sent relief materials including 3,200 tents, 1,000 cotton-padded quilts and 25 tons of rice to quake zones in the province. Chuxiong Prefecture had also allocated 350,000 yuan for disaster relief.

    The Jet Li One Foundation, initiated by Chinese film star Jet Li, earmarked 2.5 million yuan and donated materials worth 250,000 yuan on Sunday to the affected areas in the two provinces.

    RESUMPTION OF DISRUPTED SERVICES

    Traffic on the north-south rail line from Chengdu, the Sichuan capital, to Kunming, which runs all the way through the quake zone, was disrupted temporarily on Saturday and resumed on Sunday.

    Some stops on the 1,100 km rail line were damaged, which led to the cancellation of three freight trains, a Kunming Railways Administration source said.

    ”Resumption of this railway service will guarantee the delivery of relief materials to the quake zone centered on Panzhihua,” saida Kunming Railways Administration official.

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A girl tries to salvage usable items from her seriously damaged house in Lixi Township, Huili County, southwest China’s Sichuan Province, Aug. 31, 2008. An aftershock of 5.6 magnitude hit the juncture area of Renhe District in Panzhihua City and Huili County in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture on Sunday afternoon, one day after the 6.1 magnitude quake hitting the same area. The death toll of Saturday’s quake has risen to 28, while no damage caused by the aftershock has been reported.(Xinhua Photo)

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    XIAMEN, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) — The second cross-Strait direct sea route between Xiamen in Chinese mainland’s Fujian Province and Taiwan’s Jinmen County opened on Sunday, cutting travel time from 80 minutes to 25 minutes.

    In total, 236 tourists departed Jinmen’s Shuitou port, only 9.7 nautical miles from Xiamen’s newly-built Wutong port, at noon.

    Eight ships from two Taiwan companies and two Xiamen companies are operating on the route. The ships leave at noon and 2 p.m. from Xiamen daily.

    Jinmen would invest 10.9 billion new Taiwan dollars (about 345.4 million U.S. dollars) to build three new ports to cater for the increasing number of tourists, said Ni Zhentu, a Jinmen port official, at the opening ceremony.

    The first Xiamen-Jinmen route between Heping port and Shuitou port had transported more than 2.44 million passengers since beginning operation in January 2001.

    MACAO, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) — Although being delayed for half an hour, the arrival of China’s Olympic gold medalists here Sunday night still drew loud cheers from Macao people and tourists.

    The delegation led by China’s sports chief Liu Peng finished their Hong Kong visit and came to Macao by sea this evening. They were greeted at the Outer Harbor by Chui Sai On, secretary for social affairs and culture of the Special Administrative Region (SAR), and other officials.

    Since this is a rare chance that almost all of China’s gold medalists came to Macao for visit, the SAR government arranged 450local middle-school teenagers, each waving flags of the SAR and the nation, to line up in the departure hall of the Outer Harbor welcoming the visiting delegation.

    Many local citizens and tourists, who were desperate to see themedalists, came to the Harbor more than one hour earlier than the arrival of the delegation. They said it was worth the long waiting, given the medalists’ great attraction to them.

    Ms. Lin, a tourist who came from China’s Zhejiang province, considered herself “a lucky one”. She said, “I originally came here for traveling, but as soon as I heard they (the medalists) were coming, I shorten my sightseeing and rushed here to wait for them.”

    The delegation, including 63 gold medalists from the Beijing Olympic Games, will meet with the SAR’s Chief Executive Ho Hau Wahlater today. They will also attend a series of activities in the city, including a gala show to be held Monday night, and will takea short tour of the city that is known to the world for its casinos.

    The delegation will finish their visit here and leave for the mainland Tuesday. 

Special report: Reconstruction After Earthquake

    CHENGDU, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) — All the 3.4 million students in the May 12 quake zone in southwest China’s Sichuan Province will return to school on Monday, a provincial education official told a news briefing on Sunday.

    About 33 percent of the students will resume classes in their former schools unaffected in the earthquake. Thirty-eight percent will attend classes in buildings that have been reinforced. Around 28.4 percent will study in prefabricated classrooms, according to Tu Wentao, the provincial education department head.

Students from Dujiangyan arrive at the Shanghai Railway Station in Shanghai, east China, Aug. 31, 2008. Around 1,300 vocational school students from the quake-hit Dujiangyan City of southwest China’s Sichuan Province arrived in Shanghai by a special train on Sunday. They will be studying in 24 vocational schools in Shanghai with various living allowances and tuition fees covered.(Xinhua Photo)

    Nearly 20,000 students in the worst-hit areas would have to leave their home towns to seek schooling. About 11,000 will study in 16 other cities in Sichuan Province. The remaining will begin classes in 25 other provinces, including Guangdong and Shanghai, he said.

    ”We will not tolerate a single student dropping out of school because of the disaster and poverty.”

    The local governments was providing living allowances to those students, he added.

    ”I have learned how to surf the Internet. It’s great to send e-mails to my peers in Beijing,” said He Zhongchen, a grade three student at the Guanzhuang Middle School, in a computer room on Sunday.

    In total, about 1,400 students began their new term in 53 prefabricated classrooms at the Qingchuan County school on Sunday morning. The school was funded by Procter and Gamble and computer maker Hewlett-Packard.

Students from Dujiangyan arrive at the Shanghai Railway Station in Shanghai, east China, Aug. 31, 2008. Around 1,300 vocational school students from the quake-hit Dujiangyan City of southwest China’s Sichuan Province arrived in Shanghai by a special train on Sunday. They will be studying in 24 vocational schools in Shanghai with various living allowances and tuition fees covered.(Xinhua Photo)

    MALANJE, Angola, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) — Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos has spoken highly of China-built Malanje-Luanda railway in trial operation during his inspection tour to the line at the weekend.

    Speaking to over 20,000 local people welcoming him, he recognized the hardworking spirit of the Chinese workers who helped more than 4,000 local laborers and expressed his satisfaction with the high-quality of the line.

China-made passenger train runs into Malanje Railway Station during the China-rebuilt Malanje-Luanda Railway trial-reopening ceremony in Angola, Aug. 30, 2008. Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos attended the ceremony on Saturday. With 16 stations along the 479-km-long line, the Malanje-Luanda Railway runs through four provinces including Malanje, Kuanza Norte, Bengo and Luanda and terminates in Angola’s capital Luanda. (Xinhua Photo/Dai Adi)

    The 479-km-long railway line is ok and the passenger train is beautiful, he said, adding that the operation of the line is of key strategic to the country’s economic development, especially boosting markets both in coastal areas and inland regions.

    After inspecting a passenger train entering into the Malanje Railway Station, the president told the crowd of Chinese workers who manage the line and the station in Chinese “Xiexie, Xiexie (Thank you, thank you).”

    The president, accompanied by First Lady Anna Paula dos Santos, also enquired the Chinese railway managerial personnel about the performance and function of the six-carriage passenger train which is in trial operation.

    The Malanje-Luanda railway line with a contractual value of 355 million U.S. dollars is so far the largest infrastructural project China has contracted in Angola.

    There are 16 stations along the line starting from the provincial capital Malanje in the north and running through four provinces of Malanje, Kuanza Norte, Bengo and Luanda and before it terminates in the Angolan capital Luanda, also a seaport city in Angola.

    It took three years for China Railway 20th Bureau to instruct some 4,300 local workers to complete the project which consists of laying 264-km-long new rails, revamping 215-km-long existing rails and constructing 16 railway stations, 16 steel and reinforced concrete bridges and over 200 culverts.

    Also accompanying the president to inspect the railway line include Vieira Dias Kopelipa, director of the Office for National Reconstruction, Augusto da Silva Tomas, minister of Transportation and Manuel Gourgel, director of the Malanje-Luanda Railway Administration and Chinese officials of China Railway 20th Bureau. 

    HOHHOT, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) — Authorities in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Sunday confirmed 15 people died and six were injured in an explosion at a fireworks plant on Saturday.

    The accident was the worst amid a series of explosions since October 2005 in this township of Sijizi, Aohan Banner in Chifeng City.

    The blast happened at about 10:13 a.m. on Saturday at the Xinxin Fireworks Plant in Sijiazi Township of Aohan Banner, killing 13 workers instantly and injuring six others, two seriously. It also destroyed about 50 workshops, a regional work safety bureau spokesman said.

    Twenty-two workers at the site escaped unhurt.

    The impact of the explosion was obvious. The corns in the field were all blown down, and the windows of many houses were shattered.

    More than a full day after the explosion, smoke could still be seen belching from the remains of the plant, coupled with sporadic blasts of fireworks buried in the debris, according to local police.

    Early on Sunday, rescuers found two more bodies in the debris, according to firefighters from Chifeng, a city in eastern Inner Mongolia, who participated in the rescue.

    Fourteen of the dead, aged 25 to 68, were locals. The other wasfrom Chaoyang, a city in neighboring Liaoning Province. Of the dead, 11 were women.

    A preliminary investigation found the blast occurred when some of the 43 workers were mixing ingredients for making fireworks inside the workshop.

    The blast led to new rounds of explosions of oxidizers and reducing agents stored inside the weighing workshop, which triggered completed fireworks or semi-finished products kept in other workshops to explode.

    The fatal accident was caused because the firework plant and its workers seriously violated relevant regulations and operation rules, the spokesman said.

    Two shareholders in the fireworks plant were placed under police surveillance.

    Aohan, with a history of 100 years in fireworks manufacturing, has been diligently trying for years to build itself into the biggest center for production and marketing of fireworks in north China.

    Sijiazi township, for instance, previously had 80 fireworks manufacturing businesses at its peak. It kept 43 of them after diverse rounds of rectifying measures in the past two years. The existing works were capable of churning out 300 million yuan (about 42.86 million U.S. dollars) in output value annually.

    Repeated accidents, however, caused by factors such as lax supervision and serious violations of regulations had earned Aohan nothing but a place on the blacklists kept by government departments, including the State Administration of Work Safety.