Death Toll in SW China Earthquakes Rises to 80: Government

Kunming, China (ANTARA/Xinhua-OANA) - Eighty people have been confirmed dead as of 8 a.m. Saturday after multiple earthquakes struck southwest China's Yunnan Province on Friday, authorities said. The death toll may further climb as the quakes happened at a poverty-stricken mountainous region where telecommunications and traffic infrastructure were damaged seriously, making it difficult to collect information promptly, said a spokesman with the provincial civil affairs department.(*)