Ugandans survive China earthquake
May 14, 2008
TWO Ugandan students escaped unhurt after their university buildings collapsed in the town of Chengdu in the devastating Chinese earthquake which killed over 15,000 people.
TWO Ugandan students escaped unhurt after their university buildings collapsed in the town of Chengdu in the devastating Chinese earthquake which killed over 15,000 people.
“We had two students in a university in Chengdu and their institution was affected, reports Anne Mugisa. Some buildings collapsed. But the students are safe,†said Evans Aryabaha, the second secretary at the Ugandan embassy in Beijing. He declined to give their identities.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says about 5,000 Ugandans live in China. Most of them are students or businessmen.
The earthquake, measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, said to be the worst in China in three decades, hit the mountainous Sichuan Province on Monday afternoon, flattening villages and burying thousands of victims under collapsed buildings.
A foreign affairs official in Kampala said they were in touch with their embassy in Beijing but so far no Ugandan casualties had been reported. “They would immediately let us know. No such information has been sent.â€
The death toll was expected to rise as rescue teams tried to make contact with the worst hit areas.
“We had two students in a university in Chengdu and their institution was affected, reports Anne Mugisa. Some buildings collapsed. But the students are safe,†said Evans Aryabaha, the second secretary at the Ugandan embassy in Beijing. He declined to give their identities.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says about 5,000 Ugandans live in China. Most of them are students or businessmen.
The earthquake, measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, said to be the worst in China in three decades, hit the mountainous Sichuan Province on Monday afternoon, flattening villages and burying thousands of victims under collapsed buildings.
A foreign affairs official in Kampala said they were in touch with their embassy in Beijing but so far no Ugandan casualties had been reported. “They would immediately let us know. No such information has been sent.â€
The death toll was expected to rise as rescue teams tried to make contact with the worst hit areas.