China quake death toll rises by four to 69,185

Source: Xinhua | 06-24-2008 17:05

BEIJING, June 24 (Xinhua) -- The death toll of China's massive earthquake increased by four to 69,185 as of Tuesday noon, the State Council Information Office said.

The number of the injured remained unchanged from Sunday's 374,171 and people reported missing dropped from Monday's figure by 31 to 18,467 after the 8.0-magnitude quake jolted southwestern Sichuan Province and neighboring regions on May 12.

As of Tuesday noon, 96,185 injured people had been hospitalized and 82,696 have recovered and been discharged. There are still 10,853 people remaining in hospital, the office said in a statement.

The government disaster relief fund had reached 54.32 billion yuan (about 7.76 billion U.S. dollars), including 49.61 billion yuan from the central government and 4.71 billion yuan from the local budget.

As of Tuesday noon, domestic and foreign donations had reached 53.03 billion yuan in cash and goods, of which 18.82 billion yuan had been forwarded to the quake-hit areas.

It said as of Monday, relief workers had built 313,700 temporary houses and another 32,100 were being installed, while the materials for 63,700 of such shelters had arrived in the affected areas.

Editor:Xiong Qu