05/12/2008
A massive earthquake has toppled buildings across a wide area of central China, killing more than 8,533 people, trapping hundreds of students under the rubble of schools and spilling ammonia from a chemical plant.
The 7.8-magnitude earthquake Monday is among the worst to strike China in decades, devastating a hilly region of small cities and towns in Sichuan and nearby provinces. The official Xinhua News Agency says 8,533 people have died in Sichuan and dozens of other deaths have been reported elsewhere.
A chemical plant collapsed in Shifang city, to the southeast of the epicenter, burying hundreds of people and sending more than 80 tons of toxic liquid ammonia leaking from the site, state media reports.
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