China's Earthquake may claim more than 50000 Lives

Navtej Kohli brings a terribly shocking report!

China's government has given warning that 50,000 people may have died in the earthquake that has devastated large areas of Sichuan province.

So far, 19,509 people are known to have been killed – an increase of more than 4,000 on Wednesday's estimate of the disaster's human toll - and has directly affected 10 million people.

Survivors are still being pulled from the ruins of their homes and public buildings.

But time is running out in the search for survivors from the earthquake, which struck on Monday.
"Generally speaking, anyone buried in an earthquake can survive without water and food for three days," said Gu Linsheng, a researcher with Tsinghua University's Emergency Management Research Centre. "After that, it's usually a miracle for anyone to survive."

One of the surviver told that the start of the earthquake sounded like a train approaching.

So far, the full extent of the damage inflicted by the earthquake, which measured a magnitude of 7.9, has not been assessed.

The Disaster Relief Headquarters of China's State Council said the final death toll could exceed 50,000

The authorities said that another 30,000 troops will be deployed in Sichuan to reinforce the 50,000 already helping the relief operation. Although the chances of finding survivors are diminishing by the hour, the government vowed to continue the search.

"This is only a beginning of this battle, and a long way lies ahead of us," said Gao Qiang, the deputy health minister. "We will never give up hope. For every thread of hope, our efforts will increase a hundred fold. We will never give up."

Wen Jiabao, the prime minister, visited the wreckage of school in Sichuan where dozens of children died.

He thanked doctors and nurses for helping the injured and said: "The party and the government are grateful to you. The people need you. They see you as a relative."