"Burma OK's help from Asian neighbors; Approves visit by UN leader, donor meeting"
"by Associated Press | May 20, 2008
RANGOON, Burma - Burma's junta, facing global outrage for spurning international assistance, appeared to relent yesterday, saying it would allow its Asian neighbors to oversee the distribution of foreign relief to cyclone survivors.
It also approved a visit by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and prepared to host a meeting of aid donors, while saying that losses from the May 2-3 disaster exceeded $10 billion.
A three-day official period of mourning was to begin today for the dead, which numbered more than 78,000, according to official figures. Another 56,000 people were missing. Conditions, especially in the Irrawaddy Delta, remain precarious for survivors, who face disease, malnutrition, and exposure to the elements.
Heavy rain fell again yesterday, said the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, noting that such weather can provide clean water for those able to catch the downpour with plastic sheeting.
"However, the rain for many others simply adds to the misery as they look forward to their 18th night in often wretched conditions," the agency said....
What misery! What absolute misery!
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will arrive in Rangoon on Thursday and stay until Friday night, when he will fly to Bangkok. He will return to Rangoon on Sunday to cochair the pledging conference, UN spokeswoman Michele Montas said in New York. He will tour the battered delta during his visit, but it is not yet known which officials he will meet."Question: How is all that flying and fuel use good for the environment?
Just asking?
"Warnings spark panic in China; Fear of aftershocks as nation mourns"
"by Jim Yardley and David Barboza, New York Times News Service | May 20, 2008
It is a well-written, decent article, readers; however, I still have not visited the Times web site. I just don't like them anymore.
CHENGDU, China - Panic erupted here in the Sichuan provincial capital and at least one other Sichuan city yesterday after provincial television issued a warning of the possibility of a severe aftershock of as much as 6.7 magnitude.
Near midnight in Chengdu, thousands of people trying to evacuate the city by car became mired in gridlock, stuck bumper-to-bumper in clotted streets. Other people quickly gathered blankets and rushed outside, planning to sleep on the street or in neighborhood parks.
In Mianyang, one of the areas hardest-hit by last week's earthquake, guests were evacuated from hotels, joining the masses in the streets. It was not immediately clear on what basis the warning was issued. Hundreds of aftershocks have occurred since the 8.0 quake struck last Monday, causing the worst natural disaster the country has seen in more than 30 years.
The panic occurred hours after the country observed an official period of silence to mourn the tens of thousands of quake victims. At 2:28 p.m., exactly a week after the quake, traffic halted around the country and millions of Chinese stood with bowed heads and moist eyes. Rescue workers also stopped to honor the dead, marking a pause in a difficult but enormous relief effort as the hopes of finding new survivors faded.
The many powerful aftershocks have hampered relief efforts in the southwestern province of Sichuan. Rain and floods have posed additional threats, forcing some operations to be temporarily suspended. The deaths caused by landslides were reported by Xinhua, the official news agency, but the brief report gave few other details.
Despite the rising death toll, there were a few more remarkable rescues yesterday, following a week of small miracles that have been played out on state-run television and have prompted a flood of aid and donations from around the world.
After being buried for nearly a week, a 50-year-old woman was pulled from the rubble of a residential building near a coal mine in Hanwang Township yesterday, the government said.
In Beichuan County, a 61-year-old woman who was trapped in debris for about 145 hours was also rescued yesterday morning, officials said.
But with the confirmed death toll raised to 34,000 by late yesterday, and the government saying the figure could reach 50,000, there is more grief than hope here. For most families, there are only dead bodies and missing relatives, and the odds of finding a relative alive are now small.
To honor those who have suffered, Beijing declared a three-day period of national mourning, beginning yesterday.
Flags flew at half mast and the Olympic torch relay was suspended until tomorrow. In addition, entertainment on television and even online has been curtailed or banned.
On the road to Beichuan, one of the hardest-hit towns, police in blue shirts stood with their hats in their hands and heads bowed at 2:28 p.m., for the period of mourning.
Several families were trickling back into towns and villages around Beichuan County yesterday, hoping to find any signs of family and friends and survey the damage to their homes.
A group of 12 family members trudged together up the winding road to the town, the county seat. They carried large plastic bags stuffed with clothing and food. Since the earthquake, they had been living in a huge stadium in the city of Mianyang, but now they were making the inevitable trip back to their farming village, somewhere in the mountains.
"We're just going to take a look," said Li Zhangping, whose husband was still missing. "Tonight, we'll sleep wherever we can find a place."
That evening, inside the town of Beichuan, four women wailed as they burned incense and paper money in front of a towering pile of rubble. They had returned home today, only to find that their parents had died in a building collapse.
There were a few signs of hope, though. Dozens soldiers and rescue workers had gathered atop a mound of rubble in the town center in the late afternoon. They had discovered someone alive in a crevice, more than a week after the earthquake, and were working to get the person out.
In Mianyang County, people stood for the minutes of silence near the People's Park. Drivers in cars and buses honked their horns, echoing air raid sirens and the sounds of a nation that was otherwise momentarily quieted.
At the Veranda Bridge restaurant in Chengdu, the provincial capital, a hundred waiters and waitresses lined up in four rows, and listened to their manager declare, "We are doing this to remember the people who have died."
And in every part of the country, from Urumuqi in the far west, to Hong Kong on the southeast coast, people stood still to remember those who were killed or harmed by the massive earthquake that the government now says reached a magnitude of 8.0.
While the nation hangs on stories of remarkable rescues by the more than 140,000 relief and medical workers, the grim realities of the enormous devastation are settling in.
More than 240,000 people have been hospitalized. Many survivors were forced to have limbs amputated. And now, thousands of bodies are being buried and cremated."Just horrifying, the whole thing!
