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lages," Xinhua quoted Li Fuchun, head of Luozehe township in hardest-hit Yiliang County, as saying. • State television said Saturday that workers had succeeded in clearing a road into the worst-hit area that had been blocked by fallen boulders, allowing rescuers and assistance in. • Rescue work was also likely to be hampered by rain forecast over the next three days. There was, however, some uplifting news: State television reported that four babies had been born in temporary hospitals set up after the quakes. • The first magnitude-5.6 quake struck just before 11:30 a.m. Friday and was followed by an equally strong quake shortly after noon, joined by dozens of aftershocks. Though of moderate strength, the quakes were shallow, which often causes more damage than deeper ones. • Zhang Junwei, a spokesman for the Yunnan Seismological Bureau, said by telephone Saturday that 80 people had died and 821 others had been injured. • All but one of the deaths occurred in Yiliang County, according to the Yunnan provincial government's official website. Yiliang's high population density -- twice the provincial average -- along with flimsy building construction and landslide-prone hillsides were blamed for the relatively high death toll. • The dead included three primary school students, Xinhua said. It cited Zhou Guangfu, deputy chief of the Yiliang county education bureau, as saying 15 students were in their classroom in Jiaokui township when the first quake hit. Eight were buried in rubble and teachers and villagers were able to rescue five of them, he said. • CCTV footage showed heavy equipment being used to clear roads littered with rocks and boulders. • Other footage showed tent villages full of survivors, and search dogs going through the rubble of destroyed homes. Several vehicles were crushed by large (Continued on page 38)
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