Beijing toll now 77 after days-old figure updated
Source: Xinhua |
July 27, 2012, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
Authorities in Beijing yesterday updated the death toll from its heaviest rain in six decades to 77 after questions were raised over the days-old tally of 37.
Beijing's flood control headquarters said last night that 66 of the victims had been identified.
Five of them had died while carrying out rescue work, Pan Anjun, a spokesman for the headquarters, said.
Of the other 61 - 36 men and 25 women - 46 drowned, five were electrocuted, three died in housing collapses, two in mudslides, two from traumatic shock, two after they were hit by falling objects and one was struck by lightning, Pan said.
He said a further sharp increase in the death toll was unlikely because the search for missing persons was drawing to an end.
Most of the bodies were found in suburban districts, including 38 recovered in the hardest-hit Fangshan District, he said.
The list of the victims includes an eight-month-old girl who drowned.
In explaining why it had taken several days for the authorities to update the death toll, Pan said mudslides triggered by the heavy rains hindered rescuers' searches for bodies.
Identifying victims required repeated investigation and verification, he said, adding that search efforts were ongoing.
On behalf of the flood control headquarters, Pan expressed deep condolences to the deceased and their families and promised to draw lessons from the tragedy and improve the capacity to handle similar disasters in the future.
An article in yesterday's People's Daily, flagship newspaper of the Communist Party of China, said that though the city government had pledged no cover-up of the rainstorm death toll, public concern would remain until the final figure was released.
A swift release of authoritative information was the way to crush untrue rumors, the article said.
"Information disclosure is a dynamic process rather than a static product," it said. "Only by responding to public concerns through various channels in a timely manner, can we better guarantee people's right to know and to a larger extent win the recognition and support of people from all walks of life."
The Beijing government raised the death toll to 37 on Sunday night, a day after the torrential rain battered the Chinese capital.
But no updates were released until last night despite online speculation that the figure could be much higher.
At a press briefing on Wednesday night, city officials said the rainstorm had inflicted direct economic losses of 11.6 billion yuan (US$1.8 billion). But they did not provide any update on the death toll.
On Weibo.com, microbloggers raised the point that it should have been easier to count the number of dead than it was to estimate economic losses.
City authorities had pledged not to repeat their opaque handling of the deadly SARS outbreak in 2003.
The then health minister and Beijing's mayor were sacked due to the lack of information and even deliberate cover-ups during the epidemic.
It was claimed that the city's response then led to more deaths and the public's trust in the government had been eroded.
Beijing's flood control headquarters said last night that 66 of the victims had been identified.
Five of them had died while carrying out rescue work, Pan Anjun, a spokesman for the headquarters, said.
Of the other 61 - 36 men and 25 women - 46 drowned, five were electrocuted, three died in housing collapses, two in mudslides, two from traumatic shock, two after they were hit by falling objects and one was struck by lightning, Pan said.
He said a further sharp increase in the death toll was unlikely because the search for missing persons was drawing to an end.
Most of the bodies were found in suburban districts, including 38 recovered in the hardest-hit Fangshan District, he said.
The list of the victims includes an eight-month-old girl who drowned.
In explaining why it had taken several days for the authorities to update the death toll, Pan said mudslides triggered by the heavy rains hindered rescuers' searches for bodies.
Identifying victims required repeated investigation and verification, he said, adding that search efforts were ongoing.
On behalf of the flood control headquarters, Pan expressed deep condolences to the deceased and their families and promised to draw lessons from the tragedy and improve the capacity to handle similar disasters in the future.
An article in yesterday's People's Daily, flagship newspaper of the Communist Party of China, said that though the city government had pledged no cover-up of the rainstorm death toll, public concern would remain until the final figure was released.
A swift release of authoritative information was the way to crush untrue rumors, the article said.
"Information disclosure is a dynamic process rather than a static product," it said. "Only by responding to public concerns through various channels in a timely manner, can we better guarantee people's right to know and to a larger extent win the recognition and support of people from all walks of life."
The Beijing government raised the death toll to 37 on Sunday night, a day after the torrential rain battered the Chinese capital.
But no updates were released until last night despite online speculation that the figure could be much higher.
At a press briefing on Wednesday night, city officials said the rainstorm had inflicted direct economic losses of 11.6 billion yuan (US$1.8 billion). But they did not provide any update on the death toll.
On Weibo.com, microbloggers raised the point that it should have been easier to count the number of dead than it was to estimate economic losses.
City authorities had pledged not to repeat their opaque handling of the deadly SARS outbreak in 2003.
The then health minister and Beijing's mayor were sacked due to the lack of information and even deliberate cover-ups during the epidemic.
It was claimed that the city's response then led to more deaths and the public's trust in the government had been eroded.
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