Fire prevention work, traffic control strengthened in quake-hit area

BEIJING, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Firefighters in a quake-hit region in southwest China's Sichuan Province implemented a fire prevention and control campaign at victims' settlement sites on Monday, according to the Ministry of Public Security (MPS).

Fire-fighting units are coordinating with local authorities to gain a full understanding of the situation in the settlement sites.

The fire department will deploy a portion of its staff to conduct fire prevention patrols at victims' settlement sites, set up fire-fighting service points and organize volunteers to join the campaign.

Vice Minister of the MPS Huang Ming has arrived in the quake-hit area of Ya'an, Sichuan Province, where he has urged police to ensure the safety of roads leading to and from the affected area and strengthen traffic diversion programs throughout the area.

Huang also urged police to strengthen security checkpoints and coordinate with armed police forces. In order to leave a clear path for quake relief personnel and materials, he told police to urge people to avoid traveling to affected areas by car.

In a previous development, Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang visited the affected city zone, neighboring townships, villages and broken roads in Lushan County, extending the central government's sympathy and solicitude for quake victims and regards for rescue workers.

Wang convened a meeting with local grassroots officials, farmers, soldiers and volunteers late Sunday night, urging them to check every village and house for trapped people and grasp the "golden time" of 72 hours after the quake to save as many people as possible.

Wang called for strengthening monitoring on aftershocks and secondary disasters to prevent new casualties, speeding up deliveries of disaster relief materials, resuming transportation, communication and power, as well as establishing an integrated mechanism to coordinate all rescue and relief efforts and listen to the feedback from the front-line rescue and relief work.

The death toll has risen to at least 186, with more than 11,000 others injured, in the quake that jolted Lushan County of Sichuan's Ya'an City at 8:02 a.m. Beijing Time on Saturday. More than 1.5 million people have been affected by the disaster.

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