Death Toll Rises to 617 in Qinghai Earthquake

The death toll from a 7.1-magnitude earthquake in northwest China’s Qinghai Province has risen to 617, rescuers said Thursday.
The latest statistics show that 313 people were missing and 9,110 injured, 970 severely, said a spokesman with the rescue headquarters in the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Yushu in southern Qinghai.
Almost 2,000 soldiers, police officers and fire-fighters were carrying out search and rescue operation in the Gyegu Town, the seat of the Yushu prefecture government, th…