Day 5 May 16 2008, Friday

Death toll: Approximately 21, 500
Rescue toll: 13,597
Injury toll : Approximately 159,000

The day that politics forgot

Today politics were set aside as Japan and Taiwan became significant international contributors in the relief efforts in China.

Japanese team is the first foreign rescue group to be approved to help arrives in China
A second team followed later this evening, carrying three rescue dogs, power generators and large-scale equipment to cut through the rubble.

Chinese President Hu Jintao was in Japan the week before the earthquake to discuss improving bilateral relations, often strained by residual tensions over Japanese invasion and occupation of China during World War Two.

A historic direct flight between China and Taiwan arrives bearing relief team and emergency rations.

Since 1949, Taiwan has banned direct flights to China for security reasons. In 2005 though flights were allowed during the Chinese New Year festive season. Later this year in July, with President Ma Ying-jeou who is friendlier towards China than his predecessor, Chen Shui Bian, in office, Beijing-Taipei flights will begin a Friday-Monday run.

Taiwan is also the single largest international cash contributor for Sichuan earthquake relief efforts. Corporate and individual donations came up to 560 million yuan which amounts to US$80 million. Taiwanese media lauded the amount as exceeding the figure given by China's nouveau-riche tycoons. Netizens in China have lashed out at the local tycoons for being “cold-blooded” and “ evil businessmen”. 22 people from the Taiwanese Red Cross have also arrived with one sniffer dog to help with rescue.

Saudi Arabia donates US$50 million to China for earthquake relief.

First Russian medical and medical team set off for China.



When survival is a case of losing your limbs

The crucial 72-hour window may have been reached but defiant stories of survival continue to emerge from beneath the rubble. Trapped for 100 hours, Liu Deyun lay under the guesthouse where he was resting when the earthquake struck.

He was discovered yesterday at 2pm. Rescuers began efforts to extricate him, and were joined by reinforcements two hours later. Without equipment to remove massive pieces of rubble, progress was excruciatingly slow. It was only at 8 this morning that most of the pieces obstructing the rescue were remove and Liu would lie there for another 8 hours before they got to him at four this afternoon.

Liu' left leg was crushed under a huge beam and beyond salvation. After discussing with Liu, rescuers amputated his left leg and pulled him out alive.

According to a Taiwanese news report, it was a very reluctant choice for a young survivor. She begged doctors not to amputate her limbs, because without them, she would not be able to “support her parents later in life”.



First emergency supplies head for Wolong Panda Reserve. 1,500 kg of bamboo, 1,000 kg of apples and 1,050 kg of bamboo shoots are being sent.

70% of devastated areas have restored temporary water supply.

Chinese President Hu Jintao visits the earthquake-hit region and insists that rescue efforts continue despite the 72-hour window for rescue being passed.

Beijing responds to domestic and external requests to adopt earthquake orphans. Authorities reassures that orphans are being taken care of and efforts made to try to reunite lost children to their parents. However legal avenues will be available to those wishing to make adoptions.

Universities and hospitals from all over China are sending medical teams and supplies to Sichuan. The Department of Public Security has also despatched 17,439 people, including 3460 special police, 13,427 firemen and 552 medical personnel.

A Singapore Civil Defence rescue team arrives in Chengdu.



VIDEO OF THE DAY*

There is a three-year-old boy that captured the hearts of many Chinese people.

As the story goes, he was being stretchered out by rescuers after over ten hours under the rubble. His little arms were weakened but nevertheless, he mustered every ounce of strength he had, raising his right hand to his forehead, giving the rescuers carrying him out a grand salute.

See the photo

The update on the child is that his left ring and pinky fingers have been amputated and he's recovering from injuries to his head and face. His mother has been reunited with him and is now taking care of him by his bedside. His father is perhaps the one from whom he learnt the salute.

He is a chief of the police station at a township in Beichuan county. He's not been heard from as communications to the area remain cut off, but he is said to have been spotted helping out with relief efforts there.

This video salutes him, and the tens of thousands of volunteers, medical, emergency and relief workers hard at work to save those still trapped and treat those rescued.



*This video was added after the post was made.

Day 4 May 15 2008 Thursday

Death Toll: 19,509
Rescue Toll: 10,503
Injury Toll: 13,436
Rescue force: 120,000
Number of aftershocks: 4,432

The crucial 72 hours reached

Today would have been three days without food or water for those still trapped within the collapsed. Experts say the chances for survival after this window diminishes.

Research and previous cases like the 1995 Kobe earthquake shows that survival rates decrease significantly after 72 hours of a crisis, due to the lack of food and water.

A request was made for doctors who are able to trek more than five hours to reach some remote villages where thousands are believed trapped and many more injured. An appeal was launched and within hours, more than 200 people, including doctors, have set out independently medical supplies.

The Chinese satellite monitoring station in Xi'an announces that it is switching the operating mode of 9 existing satellites to provide imaging, updates and communication capabilities for the affected regions.

Road access to the epicentre county seat of Wenchuan and Beichuan town has finally been re-established.

A ten-year-old boy is pulled out from beneath his collapsed primary school building in Beichuan county, after being trapped for 75 hours, after rescuers heard weak cries for help from the rubble. Ten medical workers finally managed to resuscitate him and stabilize his breathing but he may lose his right leg because it had been trapped for too long and had begun to rot. His right arm has also been fractured in many locations. His father is still looking for his missing mother.

Taiwan has obtained permission for direct flights to Chongqing to help with the evacuation of around 1,000 of its people. Previously, all flights between China and Taiwan had to transit through a third location, usually Hong Kong or Japan. Permission to land at Chengdu's congested airport was not available.

Beijing designates another 1.17 billion yuan (US$ 168 million) for rescue efforts, raising total to 34.1 billion ( close to US$ 5 billion) yuan. - Xinhua

Air Macau provides free delivery of 20 tonnes of relief supplies to Chengdu from the Special Administrative Region, including much needed convenience foods, milk powder, warm clothing and surgical equipment.

A group of 20 firemen and relief medical workers from Hong Kong have begun work in affected areas, bringing with them much professional emergency equipment.

VIDEO OF THE DAY*

A footage showing rescuers in an operation to save a girl trapped under the rubble as her brother watched on helplessly. The actual process begins at 1:09 and ends with the rescuers singing her a birthday song.





* Video was inserted after the post.