Disaster scenes
It's hard to know how to describe what I saw today.
In the early afternoon, my colleagues and I made it to the edges of the town of Han Wang. We got out of our cars and walked along the main road, past lines of police officers.
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Everywhere we turned, buildings looked like they had been blown away. We watched one team of military rescuers digging through the rubble of a collapsed building. They found a body and slowly tried to remove it from the debris.
We walked on, past rows of tents set up by the side of the road. We passed people wearing white face masks to protect against disease.
We saw one team of rescuers come out of an apartment building carrying two bodies. One of the bodies was covered by a pink blanket - the other by a yellow blanket. One of the blankets was slightly too short - you could see the dead person's feet in white socks poking out from the end.
Further into Han Wang, we reached what was left of the Dong Qi middle school. Four floors of classrooms collapsed during Monday's earthquake (the blackboards on the top floor managed to survive.) Parents stood and watched the rescue effort - hoping that their children would come out alive.
We left the town just before dusk - walking past the bodies covered by the pink and yellow blankets. No-one paid any attention to them.
The scale of this earthquake is staggering. I imagine it'll be a long time before we really get to know how many people have died.
A few notes on covering this earthquake (this is the third major natural disaster I've covered - after an earthquake in Colombia and floods in Venezuela.)
The area hit by this disaster is vast - so it's not always entirely clear which places we'll be able to get to (some places are cut off by broken roads, and the Chinese police sometimes set up roadblocks to stop us from heading into other areas). Because of this, we spend a lot of our time trying to make sure we get to the right place - this usually involves hours of driving in jeeps piled high with broadcasting equipment (satellite phones, edit packs, more cables than you could ever imagine.) Right now, mobile phones don't work very well in this region - so whenever we get a good signal we make as many calls as we can.
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Anyway, James, take care. You will be loved if you can report in a fair way. I hope BBC and other Western media report more truth, both negative and postive, in a balanced way. I don't think Chinese, especially those in overseas, want to hind problems, but it is unfair to China as well as your audience if BBC continues to report in a biased, extremely partial, selective(negative-oriented) way like the issues on Tibet etc.
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Please, don't make so much calls. We must avoid making the network busy so that more people inside can call outside for help.
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James, thank you a lot for your neutral report. Your report without prejudice means a lot for Chinese people in the quake area.
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James, pls keep your journey in China. The longer you stay and watch, the more you love this country and her people. Take care in Sichuan, it is still in danger.
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My comment was removed for no reason as well.
If the moderator think what I said was wrong or inappropriate to those who still care about the politics rather than the suffering people, I can only say that they most certainly deserved it. What would you think if someone talks like that when your friends/family or relatives is going through all this?? If the moderator find their posts were appropriate to be published, why should mine NOT be? At least mine didn't hurt the feelings of most of the people here!!
So let's see if the moderator have guts to publish this post then, if not then BBC is just doing what they are doing in the torch relay yet again.
And oh! I cannot believe someone even questioned on the Chinese government's sufficiency is a media coverage ---- someone from a country that panics with a flake of snow or a drop of rain!! Or someone from a country where their president insist to continue his holiday and not caring for thousands of people who are suffering from a natural disaster.
Yes, how fair you guys are.
James, I thank you for writing this entry. And please understand that there're still major aftershocks going on in the area, and rescue work is still taking place, hence you might feel restricted by the condition of the environment, but nevertheless, life must be tough out there.
And yeah, if you can, please make less phone-calls from your mobile. The government has just dropped few thousands of mobiles in the area, so let's leave the channel for people there to call out , shall we?
Last of last, given time, people can change, so does a country. So please, let's set the judgements aside and prey for more people to be rescued from this devastating disaster.
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Better, much better! ;-)
James, an objective report such as this is really appreciated by the world.
Keep it up!
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And by prey I certainly meant Pray, appologies for my typing error.
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This disaster have serously damaged infrastructure such as roads and railways. For those survivors live will be not easy in next few years. The country need invest a lot to rebuild all the damages for Sichuan. As a Chinese student studying abroad it is difficult to use words to explain my feeling after watching these scenes from the earthquake area. It was sad to see those collapsed school buildings, but now it is not a time to blame anyone. China has been under rapid change for more than 20 years, which is not a short and also not long enough to renew all constructions. During last 20 years the Ntional Safety Regulations for Constructions has been revised many times. Those buildings which were built during the time of revision of safety regulations may do not all conform to new safety regulations. I think this may is the main reason why we paid a so high price in this earthquake. After this disaster we need more careful to think about the future development.
Bless China,bless Sichuan.
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James, your report is so boring. There is a guy, who is an English and owns a bar in SiChuan, has told so many moving stories in SKY today. Because he is able to be mingled with Chinese people, so his report is so rich.
Do not forget, he is ONLY a citizen journalist.
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Hi James, I spoke to DH about you today and he pointed me here. I thought I'd make a small comment just to say how moving - and balanced - your reports on TV have been. Thank you and good luck. x
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James,
i saw your report...it is very neutral report about what is going on in china.
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Thanks for reporting more disaster scenes as well as how the reporting work is like in the quake zone.
Hope to see more reports on issues such as the inquiries and investigations about the qualities of school buildings, which were supposedly to be able to stand for quakes.
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James,
I am deeply moved by your bravery and impressed your in depth report of the events.
Although I do not have the authority to speak for the whole nation (not like 'fairreport', who always tries represent China.), I thank you for your neutral coverage.
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we try our best to save those people.
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I feel very sorry for those chlidren who lost thier life in earthquake. I have to say that it was an extremely shock for me to hear this disaster in my hometown. And I'll be a volunteer to rebuild their hope. Best wishes for the victims both in Sichuan and Burma. Take care of yourself.
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We, Chinese people can never be more united at this devastating and grieved time. The people in disaster have our 13 billion Chinese and our government to support them and I'm sure new home can be built soon. Let us mourn for those lost their lives and thank all those who offerred help.
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