Channel NewsAsia - Tuesday, May
13
Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said so far there
has been no reports of any Singaporean being injured in China’s
earthquake on Monday.
In response to media queries, MFA said it was closely monitoring
the situation in Sichuan Province after it was struck by a 7.8
magnitude quake in the afternoon.
It said, "Our Missions have been in touch with the Chinese
authorities, and will continue to establish contact with the
Singaporean community in the affected areas."
A Singaporean who works at the China World Trade Center in
Beijing called MediaCorp to share his experience of the quake.
Mr Philip Loh said he heard an "explosion" at about 2.30pm, but
no action was taken by authorities as they had assumed the noise
came from a nearby construction site.
However, when they heard a second "explosion" moments later and
the building shook, everyone was evacuated from the office towers,
he said. Mr Loh added that no one was hurt and work resumed half an
hour later, at about 3pm.
Channel NewsAsia checked with several travel agencies and found
that Singaporean tour groups in the affected areas are also safe.
They said they felt the tremors, but were not in any danger.
One of the tour agencies said it would continue with its tours,
but may change some of the routes.
Agencies whose tour groups were supposed to return on Monday
said flights have been delayed as airports in Sichuan are closed.
They are expected to return on Tuesday.
An engineering expert told Channel NewsAsia this is one of the
worst earthquakes in the area for the past hundred years — and he
expects the death toll to rise.
Professor Pan Tso—Chien, Dean, College of Engineering, Nanyang
Technological University, said: "I wouldn’t be completely surprised
if there are more fatalities reported, as we discover more, as we
go into more places with buildings that have collapsed, or roads
which have blocked that we cannot get in.
"And by counting the numbers, I have a hunch that the numbers
would climb. And as time goes, it may climb even faster before we
reach the area." — CNA/al
