China quake claimed 19,000 in school collapses

21/11/2008 22:54:47

Chinese authorities have revealed for the first time that around 19,000 children were killed in the earthquake in Sichuan province in May .

They say many died as a result of school building collapses.

The figure is much higher than previous unofficial estimates.

In total, the 7.9 magnitude quake killed more than 80,000 people.

The collapse of so many, often badly built schools has been the most controversial aspect of the disaster.

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