Am praying for no significant aftershocks, especially for the rescue efforts and the already damaged buildings and dams. We are thinking of you, people of Sichuan.
I am afraid the only extended video coverages currently available would be in Chinese, here are couple of links if you could bear to watch (I am talking about language-wise): Shanghai Dragon News TV: http://web.wenxuecity.com/BBSView.php?SubID=mychina&MsgID=290385 Phoenix TV based in Hong Kong: http://web.wenxuecity.com/BBSView.php?SubID=mychina&MsgID=290454 BTW, good to see you back, drox.
Update over 40000 PLA troops are in the disaster area including over 6000 paratroopers. Over 1000 people have been saved in the first six hours after the first arrival of the PLA troops at Wen Chuan (epicenter).
1974 was awhile ago and building technology and practices have greatly improved since then. If the PRC codes haven't changed much since then I would put very little stock in them. The other problem is enforcement of codes and from what I've heard from Chinese architects is that it isn't that good along with the codes not being very good. Not surprised but still disspointing. We are talking about possibly 10's of 1000's of people whose lives are at great risk. If there is the airlift capacity available and it is is being offered, GW Bush has offered US aid, then I would hope they would be willing to take it.
How fast could US get the the help there? It is not like China have no airlift capacity, Chinese airforce being one of the largest in the world. The problem is also there are no good landing areas for the planes. Choppers takes longer to get there from other regions in China.
Considering the 10th Mountain is in Afghanistan they could probably get there in a few days. I don't know enough about the PRC air force but another poster was saying that they don't have many heavy transport copters.
i get scared when travelling around these area. it's mountains all over. 100 feet drop right off the side of the road. i can't even look outside of the car window. now roads are gone, i'm surprised that the soliders made it there that fast.
They walked 21 hours on foot nonstop to get there. They are planning to do a parachute tomorrow(local time) if weather permit. It has been raining heavily in recent days.
well... I guess the decision for not asking for US copter aide is dissapointing though from the beginning we all know it's a long shot. Considering the current situation though, I can see the government's reasoning and accept that's probably what's best -- even if it meant some of us would have to second guess the decision sometime. currently, chinese elite paratroopers and helicopter units have tried multiple times to land/parachute into the hard hit montainous region. but with a few exception on the recon missions, all the attempts have failed due to heavy rain and horizontal winds. the 15th corps, one of the famous chinese corps in the Korean war and the first chinese paratroop units, is preparing for another try tomorrow morning. It was said online that soldiers volunteering for tomorrows mission have already written their final will in case they die in the mission; it is also said that the the soldiers are already saying they are preparing to take the risk if only 50% of them survives the paradrop. -- these are unconfirmed internet rumors circulating around, so take it with a grain of salt, but considering PLA's past performance in disaster reliefing situations, the majority of my chinese friends are finding it quite likely to have some truth in it. the reason I'm mentioning this information, is to point out that if any airdrop mission is going to be performed before everything is too late, it's likely to be extremely risky due to weather conditions. I'm not sure asking US copter pilots joining this fight is fair, nor practical. coupled with the fact that it'll take time for the copter to rebase and by the time it arrives, it almost surely is already after the "golden 72 hour" window, I could understand if the chinese leadership decide that it would involve too many meaningful resource to arrange such help from the US military to make it worthwhile...
and to put things into perspective, not just ordinary soldiers are putting their lives in this fight. according to reports, the Commander of the provincial army district lead a group of about 300 elite troops marched into the epic center. They are the first troops to arrive there. The 57 year old lieutenant general was a hero in the 1978 war against vietnam and this time he along with the other 300 soldiers marched 70 or so KMs in 17 hours to reach the hard hit city. the vice commander of the provincial army district lead another pioneer team into a nearby city shortly after that. This makes 2 out of the top 3 army officer (the other one staying behind is the political officer, responsible for arranging and directing reliefing efforts) in the province going into the hard hit region where aftershocks and mudslides are still very common. the commander of the 3rd corps are reportedly leading his team into the area as well. Along with several top provincial politicians leading their rescuing team, the government is really showing a great sign of urgency and determination to save as much people as possible, even with the risk of their own lives. there are some debates about whether so many top officers going to the most dangerous cities is taking too much risk right now. but at least, I don't think any one will be questioning whether the government or PLA is trying all they can to save lives.
I think the biggest problem right now is the weather condition. It's been raining heavily with strong horizontal winds. Add to that the mountainous landscape, it is not likely that even the best aircrafts could do much. Just to show what the region looks like, below is some pictures taken last November of Wenchuan, the epic center. It would be difficult to airlift even in relatively good weather conditions, let alone in heavy rain and thunderstorms. http://www.newsmth.net/bbscon.php?bid=1110&id=17646
I heard PLA had lost more than 10 parachute soldiers while forced landing in the heavy rain. I dont know how the buried survivors are going to fight the damn rain. The soldiers are brave but they can not do anything without tools...it's been more than 24 hours already.........I'd use some big USA carrier planes now......
