Tibet Earthquake Death Toll Rises to Over 100

TaiwanPlus News

The death toll in Tibet has risen to at least 126 after a magnitude 6.8 earthquake hit the Himalayan foothills. All-out rescue efforts ordered by Chinese President Xi Jinping are still underway.

Transcript

00:00Rescue workers in Tibet continue the search for survivors in below freezing temperatures

00:08after a deadly 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit the Himalayan foothills.

00:14Over 400 people trapped in the rubble have been rescued, but at least 126 people have

00:21now been confirmed dead, with over 180 others injured.

00:29The quake has destroyed thousands of homes in the remote Shigatse region, where some

00:34800,000 people live in one of Tibetan Buddhism's holiest cities and surrounding mountain areas.

00:41The tremors were also felt in neighboring Bhutan, India and Nepal, and even on Mount

00:47Everest, the world's tallest mountain.

00:49I saw many avalanches coming down, seracs collapsing, big chunks of glacier like exploding

00:57and a pressure wave hitting my tent.

01:00First responders here are doing all they can to move in rations, tents and other supplies,

01:06as Chinese President Xi Jinping called for all-out efforts to rescue and resettle people.

01:12Beijing controls Tibet as an autonomous region within China, but for many Tibetans, their

01:18loyalties lie with spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, who has lived in exile in India since

01:24a failed anti-Chinese uprising in 1959.

01:29Some members of the Tibetan parliament in exile say China is to blame for what they

01:34see as man-made reasons behind the quake, pointing to Beijing's mining policies and

01:40plan to build the world's largest dam in Tibet.

01:44When you dig the natural habitat, you will have more and more disaster that are all made

01:54by man, the Chinese wrong policy.

01:57Beijing rejects criticism from those in exile and international rights groups who have accused

02:03the Chinese Communist Party of violating human rights in Tibet for years.

02:09Here at the site of the powerful tremor, the focus now is on finding any remaining survivors,

02:16with rescuers battling against time and the frigid cold.

02:20Devon Cai and Joyce Sun for Taiwan Plus.

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