Chinese Premier Li Qing has asked the rescue and relief teams to make sure that people in the quake-hit areas live through the winter safely as he visited the affected villages in northwest China. Li visited several villages in Jishishan County of Gansu province as well as Minhe County in the neighbouring Qinghai province on Saturday.
The region was struck by a 6.2-magnitude earthquake at midnight Monday, leaving 148 people dead and 781 injured besides toppling many buildings. During the visit, Li talked with people affected by the disaster and learned about the work related to resettlement, relief supplies, and the construction of temporary dwellings. He said the top priority of current relief workers was to ensure the affected people stay warm and safe in winter, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Li urged relief workers to race against time to send relief supplies and daily necessities to the victims in the settlements and build temporary houses as fast as possible for those living in tents. If needed, buildings in the quake-hit areas should be checked and reinforced so that residents can move back and essential facilities such as schools and hospitals can be reopened, Li said.
Reconstruction should be planned in a coordinated manner to help local people improve their living conditions to prevent them from falling into poverty due to the disaster, he said. He instructed authorities to provide the best possible medical treatment for those injured in the quake.
economic suffers losses worth millions
The strong earthquake caused economic losses estimated to be worth tens of millions in the agricultural and fisheries industries, state media said Saturday. Officials in Gansu conducted preliminary assessments that showed the province’s agricultural and fisheries industries have lost 532 million yuan (about USD 74.6 million), state broadcaster CCTV reported. Authorities were considering the best use of the relief fund, set up days before, for the agricultural sector to resume production as soon as possible, the report said. The magnitude 6.2 quake struck in a mountainous region Monday night between Gansu and Qinghai provinces and about 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) southwest of Beijing, the Chinese capital.
