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Chinese Premier stresses all-out efforts to rescue quake victims
2008-05-17 00:00
 BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Saturday underscored unremitting efforts in searching and rescuing people buried in debris in the earthquake in southwestern Sichuan Province.

    Rescuers should do all out and leave no "dead angle" or "blind spot" when searching for victims, Wen said while presiding a meeting of the general headquarters of quake relief under the State Council Saturday afternoon.

 

 He said rescue efforts must be extended to villages, professional rescuers should be designated to every rescue team, and life detection equipment and sniffer dogs should be used.

    Experienced experts should be sent to seriously damaged areas and remote villages, and medics should be airdropped as soon as possible to areas which haven't been reached by medical teams, the headquarters said.

    It also urged to transfer the seriously injured to city hospitals.

    The State Council has decided to distribute 0.5 kilogram food and 10 yuan (1.43 U.S. dollars) subsidy to people with financial difficulties each day in quake-hit areas in a period of three months, according to the meeting.

 The headquarters ordered the shipment of more fast food, bottled water to the quake-hit areas, and urged the arrangements of grain and cooking oil supplies.

    It urged to produce, allocate and install a batch of mobile homes, especially temporary classrooms, clinics and accommodations for quake-affected people.

    Shopping malls and stores should be reopened when condition allows. Those hoarding and speculating should be cracked down upon to ensure stability of market and price, it said.

    The headquarters ordered proper arrangement of orphans and old or handicapped bereaved people.

    A 7.8-magnitude earthquake rocked Sichuan Province Monday afternoon. The tremors which were felt in many parts of the country had caused 28,881 deaths nationwide as of 2 p.m. Saturday.

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