China Earthquake Death Traps: Tofu Building

Parents are asking why so many schools collapsed in China's earthquake.
Hundreds of schools collapsed in the earthquake, trapping thousands of children in the rubble. It's unimaginable for a parent to lose a child under any circumstances. But as Kyung Lah tells us, a law in China prevents many parents from having more than one baby to begin with. That means some families have lost their only child. Teachers, we ask that you please preview this segment.

It defies the natural order, a parent losing a child. Yet many of the parents of the 900 children buried in the rubble of Juyuan Middle School are now confronting that horror, and under China's one-child policy, may have lost their only child. It is an intolerable grief shared by so many here.

Back in 1979, the government mandated a one-child-per-family policy as its population neared one billion. Some wealthier families ignore the order and pay a fine. And in rural areas like the earthquake-devastated Sichuan province, families can petition for an additional child. But the government rarely relents. Last year, violence broke out in southwest China after authorities went house to house collecting thousand-dollar fines from families with more than one child. China's population minister praised the one child rule, saying it has prevented 400 million children from being born.

But thousands of Chinese parents are now coping with one tragic consequence of that rigid law, while others pray for the miraculous rescue of their one child. This rescuer tells a trapped second grader to hang on, then they pull the small child out of the rubble, alive. Applause as rescuers free an eight month pregnant woman, trapped for two days. But for every child saved, so many are lost. Many are missing at a middle school in Qingchuan. And back at Juyuan Middle School, the sorrow seems endless.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• china
• earthquake
• sharon
• stone
• Karma
• tofu
• building
• children
• beijing
• olympics
• 2008
• obama
• clinton

[willowpillow1234]

I am so sorry for the loss of the children and I hope they are all safely in Gods hands.

[worldoperator]

breaks my heart to see a billion people oppressed so harshly and even more to see a family lose their future generations

[ShoeProtestor]

Well done for posting this video...

[hujintaomustresign3]

The guilty weren`t SEVERELY punished

They got away

[bbly096]

@BraVuravn say that to the dead children you heartless miserable person.

[NukeMeccaIncMusic]

communism sucks, china sucks, mao sucks, russia sucks, putin sucks

[BraVuravn]

Chinese go to Hell!

God bless to Tibetan!

[TheMightyGuri]

@mcdanielcj

it could be man made if the construction companies used cheaper material to save money for their pockets AND corrupt officials! i mean, the CCP controls everything so there must have been some officials who overseen the construction of those school buildings :/ poor china

[TheMightyGuri]

@doooooohh

yes, but all, not just a school...

[sleepylain]

How terrible. I feel so bad for those parents.

[mcdanielcj]

The Chinese government stated "The guilty will be severely punished". Why do they believe that this was a man-made disaster? Why do they refuse to take responsibility for their people's safety?