Hu, Wen Urge All-out Efforts to Save People in Quake-hit Zone

Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao Wednesday urged all-out efforts to save lives and provide assistance to people affected by a 7.1-magnitude quake.

About 400 people have died and 10,000 others were injured after the quake hit northwest China's Qinghai Province early on April 14.

In two separate written instructions, Hu and Wen asked authorities to step up precautions in case of aftershocks and make sure people in the disaster-hit area were taken good care of.

They also called for efforts to safeguard social stability in the quake-devastated region in Qinghai Province.

Many people were still buried under the debris of collapsed houses in the Gyegu Town near the epicenter in the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Yushu in southern Qinghai, said Huang Limin, deputy secretary-general of the prefecture government.

The State Council of China has set up a quake-relief headquarters, with Vice Premier Hui Liangyu as the head, to take care of disaster relief, epidemic prevention, seismic monitoring and public security.

Hui has rushed to the region to comfort local people and supervise the disaster relief work.

The provincial government of Qinghai has also initiated emergency response efforts.

(Source: Xinhua)