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Parents wait for answers on construction of school in China earthquake zone

By CARA ANNA,Associated Press Writer AP - Friday, June 20

WUFU, China - Upset parents of children who died in a primary school that collapsed during China's massive earthquake last month gathered at the school Friday to await a government answer on its construction.

The parents said the government had promised to give them the details on how the school was built and why it collapsed so easily in the May 12 quake, which killed more than 69,000 people in Sichuan province in China's worst disaster in three decades.

"They said they would give us answers on June 20," said Huan Zaojun, one of about 150 parents gathered at the primary school in the village of Wufu, 45 miles (75 kilometers) north of the provincial capital Chengdu.

"If we are not satisfied we will go to the provincial government," said Huan, whose 11-year-old son died in the earthquake.

The issue of school construction has become a major flash point for anger against the government, which has been praised for its reaction to the earthquake.

Parents have protested at numerous schools in the province, calling for explanations as to why schools collapsed so easily while nearby buildings were still standing after the 7.9 magnitude quake.

Huan and other parents were standing near a memorial that contained pictures of their children.

The parents were sensitive to official pressure, and pushed a television crew out of the area that did not have media passes because they thought the crew was from the government.

The scene at the school was tense but calm. "I don't feel so good waiting so long," said another parent, Pi Kaijian, after waiting several hours without any word.

Sichuan was also braced Friday for heavy rainstorms that may trigger new landslides, with thunderstorms forecast for Friday through Sunday, according to the provincial weather bureau. This month marks the start of the annual rainy season, which routinely leads to flooding in rivers in provinces downstream.

Landslides are a particular concern because the May 12 earthquake caused steep hillsides to shear away and crash into river valleys below. Many slopes remain unstable and are at high risk of being washed away.

Authorities have evacuated more than 110,000 people since Sunday from mountain districts near the quake's epicenter, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

The government has already ordered many survivors to move several times because of potential danger from damaged homes, aftershocks and possible flooding from "quake lakes" that formed when huge piles of debris blocked rivers.

Torrential rains have swept much of southern China in the past week, killing at least 63 people, swamping millions of acres of farmland and causing billions of dollars in damage. Low-lying parts of eastern Sichuan have been affected, but there have been no reports of flooding in the quake zone.

This week's heavy rains have submerged farms in the south, but the swollen rivers largely spared the tens of thousands of factories in the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province _ a huge producer of computers, shoes, toys and other products for the global market.

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