296

Zhou Yongkang inspects collapsed tunnel in Gansu Province WATCH VIDEO Source: CCTV.com | 05-16-2008 12:01 Special Report: Strong quake jolts SW China A senior CPC official has urged the repair of a quake-damaged railway section as soon as possible. Member of the Poliburo Standing Committee of the CPC Central Committee, Zhou Yongkang, made the call while inspecting a collapsed tunnel in Gansu Province. Zhou Yongkang arrived in Shaanxi Province on Thursday afternoon. He then headed to Huixian County in neighboring Gansu Province where the collapsed tunnel along the Baoji-Chengdu Railway is located. En route, Shaanxi provincial officials updated Zhou Yongkang about their disaster relief work. The senior official called on the party committees and governments at various levels in Shaanxi to make the earthquake disaster relief work as their most important and urgent tasks. He also urged them to do their best to rescue the injured, relocate the victims and guarantee their basic standards of living. Zhou Yongkang stressed that Shaanxi -- which borders Sichuan -- should continue making the most of its geographic advantage to help Sichuan with the disaster relief work. The senior official also carefully studied the tunnel rescue work with accompanying experts. The Baoji-Chengdu Railway is the lifeline linking northwestern China to its southwestern provinces. During Monday's devastating earthquake that rocked Sichuan Province -- a freight train derailed -- paralyzing the railway linking Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan, and Baoji City in Shaanxi Province. The train with five hundred tons of gasoline on board caught fire. It burned for about 40 hours before more than 1,500 rescuers put out the fire on Wednesday. Zhou Yongkang urged workers to safeguard against any gasoline explosion and possible quake-induced landslides. But to make every effort to dislodge the damaged train from the tunnel and repair the railway and tunnel so that the line can resume operations as soon as possible. Zhou Yongkang said, "The Standing Committee of the CPC Central Committee's Political Bureau has held two meetings especially for the disaster relief work. And the general-secretary has called on rescuers to make all-out efforts to overcome difficulties and achieve the success of disaster relief efforts. Especially right now, we are rescuing victims in the worst-hit province of Sichuan. And the next step is rebuilding their homes. The recovery of the railway is connected to the lifeline of west and southwestern China." Zhou Yongkang also met with Gansu provincial officials and related experts to further study the railway rescue work on Thursday night.

china, earthquake,