Foreign and Military Affairs

Chinese victims of Haiti quake named

By Wang Qian (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-01-16 08:28

The Ministry of Public Security released on Friday the identities of eight Chinese people buried under rubble in the Haiti earthquake, amid an outpouring of aid from victims of the May 12, 2008 quake in Sichuan province toward the latest disaster.

A Chinese rescuer treats a child in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Thursday. [Xing Guangli]

Four of the Chinese victims in the 7.3-magnitude Haiti quake are officers in a team sent by the ministry to Haitian capital Port-au-Prince for peacekeeping efforts, the ministry said in a statement. The team had just arrived in the Caribbean city on Tuesday afternoon and the other four victims are officers of China's peacekeeping force in Haiti.

The four ministry officials are Zhu Xiaoping, 48, director of the equipment and finance bureau; Wang Shulin, 58, a bureau researcher; Guo Baoshan, 60, deputy director of the international cooperation bureau; and Li Xiaoming, 35, a bureau official.

The four UN peacekeepers are Zhao Huayu, 38, a civilian police captain; Li Qin, 47, a political commissar; Zhong Jianqin, 35, a communications officer; and He Zhihong, 35, a female public relations officer.

Rescue efforts were in full swing after the quake, which may have killed up to 50,000 as well as left millions hurt or homeless.

"Now is the crucial time for rescue and we will use all efforts to find and save them," ministry spokesperson Wu Heping said on Friday.

Wu said that when the quake occurred at about 4:50 pm on Tuesday local time, the Chinese victims were holding peacekeeping consultations with UN staff on the fourth floor in the headquarters of the UN Stabilization Mission in Port-au-Prince.

"Besides the eight buried, all the 138 rescuers and peacekeepers from China are safe," Wu said.

The rescue team sent by China arrived in Haiti at 2:08 am local time on Thursday and began rescue operations immediately.

Wang Xueyan, a female Chinese peacekeeper in Haiti, phoned home at 7:25 pm on Jan 13. Within the minute, Wang told her family that she and other peacekeepers had dug five people from the quake debris.

Residents in Wenchuan, the epicenter of the 8.0-magnitude earthquake that killed nearly 90,000 people in Sichuan province in May 2008, raise money on Friday for the victims of the earthquake in Haiti. [Li Ping]

The Ministry of Commerce announced on Friday that China will deliver humanitarian aid worth 30 million yuan ($4.41 million) to the victims of the devastating earthquake in Haiti.

A chartered flight loaded with the first batch of emergency materials, including medicines, tents, food, emergency lights, clothing and water, would depart from Beijing on Saturday morning, the ministry said in a statement.

Since 2000, China has sent 1,569 people abroad to destinations such as East Timor, Haiti, Sudan, Liberia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Afghanistan to join UN peacekeeping efforts.

Besides government aid, Chinese people are also making donations toward quake relief in Haiti.

The Sichuan Red Cross received one of the first personal donations of 200 yuan ($29) to Haiti at noon on Thursday, from a girl in her 20s who did not want to be named.

"Although it is not much, I just want to express my concern to the victims in Haiti," the young donor told local media.

At the Guozhuang Square in Sichuan's Wenchuan, the epicenter of the devastating earthquake on May 12, 2008, hundreds of people gathered spontaneously to donate money to Haiti.

"We will send our love and care to Haiti as soon as possible and let the people there know that they are not alone," said Zhao Guolong, who helped organize the donation drive. Zhao said all the donations will be sent to Haiti on Sunday.

Three hotlines for recruiting volunteers in Sichuan have also been ringing since Thursday and most people want to go to Haiti to help the victims, Chen Yan, deputy chief of the volunteer group with the Sichuan Youth League Committee, told information portal Chinanews.com.

"We will reach Haiti by any means and pass the concern from Sichuan people to the Haitians. Although we may not be there in time, we can still save lives and help them rebuild their homes," Chen said.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also opened 24-hour hotlines 86-10-65964087 and 86-10-65964088 yesterday morning for information on Haiti. Hundreds of people were reportedly calling to ask about the condition of Chinese people there.

Wang Shuping, a representative of the China trade and economic representative office in Haiti, told Xinhua News Agency yesterday that all the 18 Chinese people working in Chinese companies there are safe and staying in the UN peacekeeper camp.