China rescuers brave cold as quake toll mounts

At least 127 people have been killed in north-west China in the country’s dead­liest earthquake for years.

The 6.2 magnitude quake hit mountainous Gansu province around midnight on Monday (16:00 GMT), also shaking neighbouring, Qinghai.

Fatalities may rise with more than 700 reported injured in icy conditions.

Chinese President, Xi Jinping, has ordered thousands of rescue crew to the region, among the poorest and most diverse in China.

The earthquake is the country’s deadliest since 2014, when more than 600 people were killed by a quake in south-western Yunnan province.

On Tuesday, footage shown on state TV and social media networks showed entire vil­lages split by the quake, as well as collapsed buildings and houses.

Residents who fled their homes were also shown huddling over makeshift fires at hast­ily erected evacuation camps. Temperatures hit -13C (8.7F) on Tuesday, Chinese media reported.

Survivors said the tremors had felt like “being tossed by surging waves” and recalled rushing out of their apartments.

“I woke my family up and we rushed down all the way to 16 floors in one breath,” said one man named Mr Qin by Chinese outlets.

—BBC

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