Death toll from China's May 12 earthquake remains at 68,712 in Sichuan

CHENGDU, May 7 (Xinhua) -- China released the number of students killed or missing in the southwestern Sichuan province on Thursday, almost a year after the May 12 massive quake jolted the region.

A total of 5,335 students in Sichuan were confirmed as dead or missing from the earthquake, said Tu Wentao, head of the education department of the province at a press conference.

Another 546 students were disabled as a result of the disaster in the southwestern province, Tu said.



The death toll from China's May 12 earthquake last year in Sichuan Province remains at 68,712, said authorities with the civil affairs department of the provincial government Thursday morning.

Another 17,921 people in Sichuan were missing after the disaster, said Huang Mingquan, head of the civil affairs department.

Both numbers were unchanged from those released last year.

Source: Xinhua News