JIEGU, China, April 17, (AFP)- Buddhist monks cremated hundreds of China earthquake victims amid sanitation fears Saturday as hopes dimmed of finding further survivors among the more than 400 people still missing.
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| A Tibetan Buddhist watches others prepare the scene of a mass cremation on a hillside in Jiegu, Yushu County, on April 17. AFP |
Naked, bloodied and bruised corpses were piled on a massive funeral pyre outside the shattered town of Jiegu on the remote Tibetan plateau and lit by chanting Buddhist monks, three days after the quake killed more than 1,100.
“We have never had a disaster like this. We have never had so many people die. Cremation is the only way to send these souls off,” said Jiemi Zhangsuo, head of the area's main Buddhist monastery that handled the ceremony.
But the struggle was far from over for the devastated region of Qinghai province, with thousands left homeless and injured as authorities fought to get sufficient relief personnel and aid to the isolated region.
The official death toll of 1,144 looked set to rise with officials saying on Saturday that more than 400 people were still missing and almost 1,200 seriously injured.
In contrast with official figures, monks said they cremated 1,400 people at the ceremony, but AFP could not independently confirm that figure.
More than 11,000 people were injured in Wednesday's quake, which caused flimsy traditional mud and wood dwellings to collapse. |
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