Governor of Sichuan Province Zhang Zhongwei Saturday urged provincial departments to provide more aid for the Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture where an earthquake killed three people and injured 63 others.
The quake, measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale, also left more than 6,000 local residents homeless.
An official from the provincial disaster relief office said that materials including 2,000 wadded quilts, 5,000 cotton-padded garments, three tons of instant food, 600 tents, and more than 100,000 yuan-worth of medicine have already been sent to the quake-stricken area.
The area hit by the quake is located along in Yalong River canyon zone in the western part of the province where there is no access to highway, telephone and electricity supply, according to the official.
Helicopters can not operate in the area because of complicated weather and geographical factors, he said, adding that all this makes relief work especially difficult.
A working group from the Ministry of Civil Affairs in on the way to the area, and the Red Cross Society of China is also busy collecting disaster relief materials for the quake-strickened area.
(People's Daily 02/25/2001)
