Top Chinese leaders stress fast relief work after SW earthquake
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Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao stressed saving life a priority and ordered quick relief work after a 5.8-magnitude earthquake hit Yingjiang County in southwest China's Yunnan Province Thursday.
On-site rescue forces confirmed that no one remained buried under the debris, local authorities said in a statement Friday.
As of 6 p.m. Friday, 25 people are confirmed dead and more than 250 others are injured.
The earthquake destroyed over 18,000 houses and apartments and left more than 49,000 others seriously damaged.
All minor injuries have received proper medical treatment locally and those who sustained serious injuries were transferred to other regions for better treatment, said the government statement.
The local government has been fully engaged in relocating and settling earthquake survivors, the statement said.
"Most of them have food, clothes and drinking water and move into the temporary shelters," the statement said.
Local traffic, power supply, communication and water supply remained stable, it said.
About 6,100 rescuers have been working at the quake site together with more than 700 medical workers, the statement said.
The provincial government has allocated 24 million yuan, and sent 5,000 tents, 5,000 quilts, 5,000 cotton coats, food, cooking oil, water and power generators to the quake-hit region.
On Friday, the air force sent two transporters to the quake region from neighboring Sichuan Province carrying 16 tonnes of relief material and a military medical team.
The State Council has set up a multi-departmental working group, headed by Vice Civil Affairs Minister Jiang Li, to rush to the site to direct and give government support for relief work.
The China Earthquake Administration and the national committee for disaster relief have launched an emergency response mechanism.
The central government has allocated 55 million yuan (8.37 million U.S. dollars) for quake relief while the Ministry of Civil Affairs has prepared 5,000 tents, 10,000 quilt, 10,000 cotton coats, and 62 tonnes of fabric.
The Red Cross Society of China (RCSC) and its Sichuan branch also mobilized relief teams to Yunnan.
The Ministry of Civil Affairs told Xinhua that it has got the first picture of the quake-hit region by unmanned airplane but did not reveal the details.
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