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Hanwang: Chinese authorities are racing to prevent diseases breaking out among 5 million people left homeless in the wake of the massive earthquake that killed almost 70,000.
Providing safe food, drinking water and temporary shelters was a priority following the May 12 earthquake, the Health Ministry said. Bodies discovered in the rubble were being disinfected, ministry spokesman Mao Qun'an said in an interview posted on the central government's website.
Mao said, "If we can do those four things properly, we have the confidence to guarantee there will be no epidemics after the disaster." He said there was no evidence of contagious diseases in the quake zone, where survivors were crammed into tents and other temporary shelters.
Any bodies that could not be cremated were being buried far from natural water sources to prevent contamination, and more than 10,000 injured people had been transferred to hospitals outside Sichuan for treatment, he said.
Meanwhile, parents angry at the deaths of their children when their school collapsed kept a poignant vigil at the ruins of the building on Tuesday, demanding that those responsible be brought to justice.
In the tiny farming town of Wufu, nearly every building withstood the May 12 earthquake, except the three-storey Fuxin Number Two Primary School which collapsed, killing 129 children.
"We come here every day," said a woman named Zhang, who lost her 10-year-old daughter in the school, one of many that collapsed across the mountainous Sichuan province raising questions about widespread breaches of construction regulations.
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