Survivors of Beichuan Middle School sought refuge in a shelter provided for them in the nearby city of Mianyang on Monday.
The earthquake, which hit a week ago, claimed nearly 2000 lives at the school. A shelter, which holds over 1,200 survivors from three schools in Beichuan county, showed many survivors grieving and scouring newspapers for signs of their parents.
More than 200 of the children had lost at least one parent, and the number of orphans was rising each day.
Beichuan Middle School student Li Qing injured her leg during the earthquake.
But she was one of the lucky ones – she was rescued after being stuck under the rubble for over an hour.
”I was scared that I would die along with my classmates, and I was frightened that I would never see my family again,” she said.
But her father managed to trace her and he made a trip to the shelter with the rest of the family to surprise her.
The family celebrated Li Qing’s 16th birthday, but her father said he was disappointed his daughter had no home to return to.
”I can’t take her back, we have no home and no place to go now. We now have no room to sit down, its ok when it doesn’t rain, but when it does we can’t even find a place to stand,” Li Qing’s father, Li Fang Jun told AP Television.
After the teary reunion with her family, Li Qing hobbled back to her cardboard mat at the shelter.
Her parents now live under a canvas sheet in an overcrowded stadium in the centre of town.
This story is repeated many times over in the shelter.
42-year-old Jian Shao Qi lost his daughter in the quake, but is involved in the relief efforts to help the children learn to cope with their ordeal.
”We have to slowly let them transform their pain and worries and channel them into their schoolwork and helping other students as well,” Jian said.
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