2008, May 21

According to the Chinese government more than 40,000 people have been killed and 247,645 have been injured in last weeks devastating earthquake near the city of Dujiangyan in Sichuan Province. More than 30,000 people are still missing, making it likely that the overall death toll of the earthquake may reach 75,000. There were almost 150 aftershocks, with the biggest reaching a 6.1 on the Richter scale. Overall, more than 5 million people have become homeless and thousands of residents have been evacuated from areas that are threatened by flashfloods from overflowing rivers and lakes.