By Prensa Latina,
Beijing : The number of people killed in all Chinese provinces pounded by the devastating earthquake May 12 has amounted to 55,740, the Council of State’s Information Office announced on Friday.
The source added the total of people wounded is currently at 292,481, and those missing total 24,960.
The government of Sichuan, the quake’s epicenter, informed this morning that in only that province, as many as 55,239 people have been reported dead, and the rest are from the neighbouring regions of Gansu, Shaanxi, Chongqing, Henan, and Hubei.
The amount of buildings total or partially destroyed is so huge that rescue teams and local authorities have been forced to relocate over 11 million people in state shelters.
Similarly, the Public Health Ministry informed that of the total of people injured, many of them recovered from the rubble, 3,451 have died in different hospitals.