With the death toll over 65,000 and at least 20,00 still missing...more than 10,000 of those deaths were children while at school, many Chinese workers and farmers whose children were killed or maimed are beginning demand answers...why.
On May 25, 2008, the New York Times published a long article by Jim Yardley, "Chinese Are Left To Ask Why Schools Crumbled" (contributing reporters were Jake Hooker and Andrew Revkin).
The estimates of student deaths "...seems likely to exceed 10,000 and possibly go much higher, a staggering figure that has become a simmering controversy in China as grieving parents say their children might have lived had the schools been better built."
The photo accompanying the article shows the Xinjian Primary School totally destroyed but "...adjacent 10 story hotel stood largely undisturbed. And another local primary school, Beijie, catering to the children of the elite, was in such good condition that local officials were using it as a refugee center."
"The government has launched an investigation, but censors, wary of the public mood, are trying to surppress the issue in state-run media and online".
"...In the aftermath of the quake, a handful of bricklayers and builders have visited Xinjian Primary School out of professional curiosity. A builder from nearby Meishan city "...picked up chunk of concrete from the rubble and rubbed it in his hands. 'The ratio of sand and concrete isn't right,...It fell down because of cheap materials.'"
The same result happens when when the reinforcing "bars" at the schools and fallen buildings are inspected...instead of bars there is only thin flexible wire.
Read the whole article!!! Or better yet sign up and register with the NY Times and you can read and print articles for free! http://www.nytimes.com
[Edit by="mwhittemore on Jun 5, 11:48:42 AM"][/Edit]
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