Kikwete mourns China quake victims

PRESIDENT Jakaya Kikwete on Sunday
sent a message of condolences to his
Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping ,
following deaths of 208 people in the
Asian country ’ s worst earthquake in
three years that also left over 1 ,000
injured.
The 6 .6 magnitude quake struck in
Lushan county , near the city of Ya ’ an
in the southwestern province of
Sichuan, close to where a devastating
7. 9 quake hit in May 2008 , killing
70,000 . In his message through the
Chinese Embassy in Dar es Salaam on
Saturday , President Kikwete said he
was deeply saddened by the news of
the devastating earthquake that hit
the Lushan County.
“ On behalf of the government and the
people of Tanzania and indeed on my
own behalf, I would like to convey our
heartfelt condolences and sympathy
to you and through you to the
government and people of China
following this unfortunate natural
disaster,” said the president, adding :
“ At this moment of emergency and
stress, our thoughts and prayers are
with all the bereaved, the injured or
those who have suffered heavy loss
after damage of property . ”
Mr Kikwete expressed confidence in
the Chinese government that it would
respond to the tragedy with their
characteristic resolve and resilience
and would succeed in restoring
normalcy quickly. Most of the deaths
were concentrated in Lushan , a short
drive up the valley from Ya ’ an , but
rescuers’ progress was Sunday
hampered by the narrowness of the
road and landslides, as well as
government controls restricting access
to avoid traffic jams.
“ The Lushan county centre is getting
back to normal , but the need is still
considerable in terms of shelter and
materials ,” said Kevin Xia of the
International Federation of Red Cross
and Red Crescent Societies. “ Supplies
have had difficulty getting into the
region because of the traffic jams .
Most of our supplies are still on the
way.”
In Ya ’ an , relief workers from across
China expressed frustration with
gaining access to Lushan and the
villages beyond , up in the mountains .
“ We’ re in a hurry . There are people
that need help and we have supplies
in the back (of the car) ,” said one man
from the Shandong Province
Earthquake Emergency Response
Team, who declined to give his name .
The Ministry of Civil Affairs put the
number of dead at 184 and missing at
24, with more than 11,800 injured .
Hundreds of armed police were
blocked from using roads that were
wrecked by landslides and marched in
single file with shovels en route to
Baoxing, one of the hardest hit areas .
Xinhua news agency said 18,000
troops were in the area . The Foreign
Ministry thanked foreign governments
for offers of help , but said the country
was able to cope .