Society

Macao Red Cross raises $160,000 for Zhouqu

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-08-12 00:30

MACAO -- The Macao Red Cross Wednesday said that it has so far collected a total donation of over 1.3 million patacas (US$162,500) from local civil groups and companies for the mudslide victims in China's Gansu province.

According to the Macao Red Cross, the charity has already allocated 300,000 patacas (US$37,500) from its emergency disaster relief fund for the relief operation in Zhouqu county, Gansu province, after the occurrence of the mudslide, which was China' s deadliest in decades.

The donations respectively came from the Macao Federation of Labor Unions, the Association of Returned Overseas Chinese Macao and a local electrical home appliance retailer.

Torrential rain on Saturday night prompted an avalanche of sludge and debris to crash down on the county seat of Zhouqu early Sunday morning, ripping many houses off their foundations and tearing multi-story apartment buildings in half.

Related readings:  UN chief extends condolences over NW China mudslide  HK offers HK$3.1m for mudslide victims  Special Coverage: Mudslide in Gansu  Death toll in China mudslide rises to 1,117

As of Wednesday afternoon, the death toll from the accident has risen to 1,117, with 627 still missing.

The Macao Red Cross has remitted the 300,000 patacas to its counterpart in Gansu province, which will be used to purchase relief supplies, such as food and drinking water, while the donations received will be used for the post-disaster reconstruction, said Wong Yue Kai, president of the central council of the Macao Red Cross.

Aside from the Macao Red Cross, the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) also received a sum of one million Hong Kong dollars (US$128,766) from a local businessman for the mudslide victims.