Almost 2000 years ago the residents of the Roman city of Pompeii were buried alive. Such tragedy replayed on May 12, 2008, with greater magnitude, at WenChuan town, located in Sichuan province, south mid-west China.
Needless to say, millions of residential houses and commercial buildings were destroyed and tens of thousands of lives lost. Sadly, a landslide turned a seven-floor classroom building into a one-floor ranch. Hundreds of middle school students were buried alive in it; one young couple put their two-year-old daughter under them, both adults perished and the little one survived. The merciless damage left 75 percent of the people living in WenChuan town dead. Death toll is now more than 14,000 and it is rising as more bodies are found in the rubble.
There was little we could do while the disaster was happening, but there is plenty we can do right now.
Please contact your local chapter of American Red Cross and make contributions to the American Red Cross China Relief Fund. The American Red Cross is working with its partners in the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, including the Red Cross Society of China, and other partners to assist those affected by this disaster.
