Firecrackers launched for safe passage of quake dead
Posted: Wednesday, May 14, 2008 3:25 PM
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Beijing, China
By Adrienne Mong, NBC News producer
CHENGDU, China – From the air, as we approached Chengdu, it looked much like it did when we were last here in March to cover the Tibet unrest.
Residential high-rises and skyscrapers stood tall. Roads looked intact. And traffic seemed as congested as usual. Maybe, I thought, the Chinese authorities had really been able to enforce tough building codes after the last quake in 1976 in Tangshan killed a quarter of a million people.
But as we piled into the car ready to drive off from the airport, the vehicle began to shake. I looked up accusingly at the driver, who shouted, "It's the earthquake!"
The aftershock subsided, and we drove on in search of supplies of bottled water before trying to link up with correspondent Ian Williams and his team up in Dujiangyan, one of the worst-hit areas outside of Chengdu.
But there were no bottles of water to be found. "People are afraid the water is polluted," explained our driver. "They heard the quake may have damaged some chemical factories, leaking into the water supply."
Eerie silence
The highway out of Chengdu was closed off by the time we made it to the turn-off so we travelled on a local road. Along the way more signs of the quake appeared. There were half-crumbled walls, collapsed roofs, clusters of local residents sheltering from the setting sun under sheets of tarpaulin.
In Juyuan, about 30 minutes outside of Chengdu, we finally stopped to look around. The signs of devastation here were much clearer. Entire buildings were razed to the ground. Debris lay everywhere. Families with piles of belongings sat around under plastic sheeting on makeshift furniture. Some looked listless. Others chatted amongst themselves as though it were any other summer's night.
At the far end of one road, we saw a group of men sitting around smoking. Behind them was a gate to a middle school, where up to 100 or so teenage students were still buried. We were not allowed any closer, but we could see two large cranes worked steadily in the distance.
There were no families wailing. Just an eerie silence.
"We're fumigating here now," said a young man. As he spoke, the sound of firecrackers punctuated the air. Ordinarily firecrackers are used in China to ward off evil spirits, especially at weddings but also at funerals.
Here in Juyuan, it was the sound of mourners wishing safe passage for the souls of the deceased journeying to their next life.
