China admits 19,000 school children died in earthquake

Published on Friday 21 November 2008 08:55

MORE than 19,000 school children died in a massive earthquake that struck Sichuan province in May, China acknowledged today for the first time.

The earthquake left nearly 90,000 people dead or missing, but the government has never before said how many of the casualties were students.

Most of them perished when their shoddily-built schools collapsed.

Their deaths have become a sensitive political issue for the government, with parents of dead children staging protests demanding investigations.

Many parents says they have been subjected to intimidation and financial inducements to keep them silent.

The student death toll of 19,065 was presented by Wei Hong, the executive vice governor of Sichuan, at a news conference on preparations for the winter in the quake zone.

Mr Wei said millions of those displaced in the earthquake still need quilts and repairs to their homes if they are to survive the coming winter, which is expected to be unusually cold.

The earthquake, which was centred in the southwestern province of Sichuan, displaced millions and left China struggling to carry out reconstruction work.