By ANTARA News/Kyodo,
Beijing : Nearly 56,000 people have died and about 25,000 are missing in last week`s massive earthquake in Sichuan Province in western China, government figures revealed Friday.
A government spokesman told reporters that 55,740 people are confirmed as having died in the disaster and 24,960 are missing.
On Thursday, Beijing put the total number killed in the disaster at just over 51,000.
Sichuan Province`s Vice Gov. Li Chengyun reiterated earlier Friday that the most pressing need in the disaster area is for tents.
“We need tents and temporary housing. More than 5 million people affected by the earthquake need proper shelter,” he said.
The Foreign Ministry said Thursday that 3.3 million tents are required.
The government has also announced plans to build over 1 million temporary homes in the disaster area by early August.
Li added that total reconstruction work is likely to take three years.
Beijing has set aside $10 billion from this year`s budget for reconstruction and estimates that 5.36 million buildings are known to have been destroyed in the disaster and more than 21 million were damaged.
Meanwhile, the government has admitted 15 radioactive “sources” have yet to be recovered in the disaster zone but said that they all are safe.
Vice Minister of Environmental Protection Wu Xiaoqing gave no details about the nature of the nuclear facilities or equipment.
But he said that some were buried under buildings, all had been accounted for and there are no traces of radioactive leaks.
“Our inspections have shown that no radioactive accidents have occurred,” he said.
Wu`s comments mark the third time in recent days that senior government and military officials have sought to reassure the public that nuclear facilities in Sichuan and neighboring areas are safe.
Premier Wen Jiabao has also returned for his second trip to Sichuan since the earthquake with a magnitude of 8.0 struck May 12.
He visited one of the worst-hit towns, Beichuan, and confirmed that it will be completely rebuilt on a new site.
The probable new location is 20 kilometers away on flat land in a neighboring county.
More than 8,600 were killed in the town and nearly 6,000 are missing, according to a report in the China Daily.
State media have reported that a memorial is to be built on the site of the old town to remember the victims of the disaster.