China Landslide Kills 18 Students

A landslide in quake-hit Yunnan province of southwest China Thursday left 18 primary school students dead, news agencies reported citing Chinese officials.

The landslide hit the Tiantou Primary School and three nearby houses around 8:10 am Thursday, burying 19. One villager remained missing and another one was seriously injured in the disaster, a spokesman of the Yiliang county government was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.

All the children who died were enrolled at the Shangba Primary School, which was hit by earthquakes Sept 7, forcing over 30 of its students to have lessons at the nearby Tiantou Primary School, Xinhua reported.

The students were taking extra classes Thursday despite the ongoing National Day holiday to make up for classes delayed by the quakes. The quakes left 81 people dead and 800 others injured in the Yiliang county.

The devastating earthquake in Sichuan province in 2008 that killed tens of thousands of people, including hundreds of students, caused a nationwide outcry for earthquake safety in schools.

In Pakistan, at least 17,000 children died in 2005 as more than 7,000 schools collapsed after a powerful quake shattered a mountainous region near the Indian border.

Italy, Algeria, Morocco and Turkey also witnessed school building collapses in recent years.