| |
Parents lose only hope in China quake disaster
Hanwang, China —The loss of a child is always
unbearable, but the grief of parents in China’s earthquake zone has
been deepened by the government’s controversial one-child birth
control policy.The most searing images of this massive disaster are
of ruined school buildings and numbed parents waiting outside as
small broken bodies are lifted from the wreckage.
China’s Premier Wen Jiabao, directing the rescue operation from one
of the worst hit areas near here, has focused on the young victims
and urged rescuers on by saying: “One minute could mean a child’s
life.”
Classrooms were packed for afternoon lessons when Monday’s
7.9-magnitude earthquake ripped through southwest China and brought
school buildings crashing down on top of children and teachers.
More than 40,000 people are dead or buried under rubble with time
running out to save the living, with many of the victims children.
Here in Hangwang, a town of 70,000 just 50 kilometres (30 miles)
from the epicentre, whole neighbourhoods including schools were
wiped out.
Most heart-rending for rescue workers and parents have been the
voices heard under the wreckage of schools that are slowly falling
silent as time passes.
“Before, we could still hear their voices. If they had worked faster
they would have already rescued my daughter,” said a frustrated and
angry Wen Huayoung, 39, who was waiting for news of her 18-year-old
daughter.
A friend, holding her hand, explained one of the reasons that made
Wen’s heartbreak even worse: “You know, in China, we are only
allowed to have one child.” Babies have become an especially
priceless commodity in China since the government banned most
parents from having more than one nearly three decades ago in an
attempt to rein in growth of the China’s population.—AFP
|
