Rescue & Aid
Police overcome special difficulties in quake relief
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-04-16 21:40
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BEIJING - Altitude sickness, sharp nighttime temperature drops, and dirt and dust clouds: Rescuers from the country's public security services are having to overcome special difficulties as they save lives and keep order in quake-hit Yushu.
"Unlike earthquakes in other places, we are facing a series of difficulties in Yushu. But we can handle them all," said Ministry of Public Security official Wu Heping Friday in an online chat with netizens on people.com.cn, the website of People's Daily.
The 7.1-magnitude quake struck the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Yushu in northwest China's Qinghai Province early Wednesday. By Friday, at least 791 people were confirmed dead, 11,486 were injured, 294 remain missing, with 100,000 more residents displaced, and about 15,000 residential buildings toppled, rescue authorities have said.
Among the rescuers are nearly two thousand dispatched by the public security ministry - special police forces, frontier defense forces and firefighters from across the country.
"Many of our rescuers have had altitude sickness after more than 40 hours of continuous work. Most of the 400 firefighters suffering from the sickness are still working in the frontline," Wu said.
Yushu lies on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau at an altitude of over 4,000 meters.
"Rescuers and machines are working around the clock, but the temperature difference between day and night is big in Yushu," said Wu, explaining that conditions can be hot during the day but freezing cold at night.
"What's more, most of the toppled houses were made of wood and mud without supports, and so dirt and dust clouds in the debris are jamming up our rescue work," Wu said.
Still, the rescue work is proceeding smoothly with most of the rescuers having taken part in the rescue after the 8.0-magnitude Sichuan earthquake in 2008, Wu noted.
"Our firefighters pulled 591 people out from the debris and 244 of them survived," he said.
Special police forces are keeping traffic flowing to guarantee the transportation of relief materials and digging machines, he added.
"So far the traffic is clear and the social order is good here. The condition in the quake-hit area is generally stable."
