Chinese President Hu Jintao(C)speaks to soldiers of the Chinese People's Liberation Army and policemen carrying out relief work at Zhaxike Village of Gyegu Town in quake-hit Yushu County,northwest China's Qinghai Province, April 18, 2010. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang)
YUSHU, Qinghai, April 19 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao visited quake-hit Yushu in northwest China's Qinghai Province Sunday, vowing to help victims rebuild their homes as most of them now settle in tents with basic needs met.
The 7.1-magnitude quake, which struck the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Yushu Wednesday morning, had left at least 1,706 dead, 256 missing and 12,128 injured, as of 10 a.m. Sunday.
THERE WILL BE NEW HOMES
In a morale-raising visit to quake-hit Yushu, Hu assured locals of new homes and schools and steadfast relief work.
"There will be new schools! There will be new homes!" Hu wrote in chalk on a blackboard in a makeshift classroom in a tent of orphaned students.
The president led the students in reading aloud the words he wrote on the blackboard.
The Yushu School for Orphans visited by Hu was the first one to resume classes. A total of 60 primary and middle school students and more than 10 teachers sang the national anthem before classes began at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
The president also talked to an injured Tibetan man in a medical tent.
"The Party and the government care about all the victims of the quake. Doctors will give you meticulous treatment...The party and the government will help with a new home...You should have confidence and recover," Hu said as he held the injured man's hands.
The Tibetan man replied, "Thank you, General Secretary. Tashi Delek!" (Tashi Delek means good luck in Tibetan)
Hu's plane landed at Yushu's Batang Airport Sunday morning after an over-three-hour flight from Beijing.
The president, who returned to China Saturday from a shortened visit to Latin America, headed for worst-hit Gyegu Town in Yushu immediately after landing.
CONCERTED RELIEF EFFORTS CONTINUE
Chinese rescuers have saved a 68-year-old man who was trapped under earthquake rubble for 100 hours.
The old man was rescued at about 11 a.m. Sunday in Gyegu Town, Yushu, and his condition appeared stable, rescuers said. The man was later taken to hospital.
Rescuers had saved 17,000 trapped people and a total of 6,870 people had been pulled out from under the rubble of collapsed buildings, among whom 6,110 survived, Miao Chonggang, deputy head of the China Earthquake Administration's quake relief and emergency response department, told a press conference.
Miao said currently more than 15,000 rescuers, including over 11,000 from the People's Liberation Army and armed police, 2,800 firefighters and special police forces, and 1,500 earthquake and mine accident rescuers, are still searching for quake survivors in Yushu.
