Faced with the most devastating earthquake since 1949, the staff members of China National Chemical Corporation (ChemChina) have earned respect and praise for their courage, fortitude and efficiency in rescue and relief work.
Right after the sudden catastrophe, ChemChina swung into gear with its prepared emergency response mechanism. The corporation's leaders and workers were fully mobilized to make all-out efforts to participate in the relief work in the quake-ravaged zone.
At the same time, the corporation also contributed proactively to local government relief efforts by making a handsome donation and shipping a large amount of relief materials to the disaster area.
Because of their devoted efforts, the damage wrought by the earthquake could be brought down to a minimum.
Devastating quake
The Wenchuan earthquake, measuring 8.0 on the Richter scale, was the most violent and destructive quake to hit the nation since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.
The earthquake on May 12 severely damaged 10 of ChemChina's subsidiary enterprises in western China's Sichuan and Gansu provinces.
By June 3, the earthquake had resulted in direct economic losses of 778.1 million yuan to ChemChina and indirect economic loss 581.8 million yuan.
The worst hit of the subsidiaries was the Qingping Phosphate Mine, located in Deyang city, close to the epicenter. The mine is the largest industrial project in the region.
The earthquake practically leveled the whole mine area, toppling almost all buildings, factories and dormitories.
Some 117 people died in the quake, including ChemChina staff members and their relatives, with 128 injured and seven missing.
The landslide that followed the earthquake cut off the only highway linking the area to the outside world, as well as all telecommunication services.
Worse still, the quake also destroyed the homes of thousands of villagers in neighboring areas, leaving them with no food, water or medicine.
Just five minutes after the earthquake, leaders of the Qingping Phosphate Mine struggled out of the ruins to gather in front of the collapsed office building.
Xiang Ping, the mine's chairman and chief executive, announced that he was assuming the role of commander of the rescue work.
The first thing he did was dispatch a team of 10 people as messengers to go to the city of Mianzhu, 15 km away from the mine, to seek help from the local government and report to the headquarters in Beijing.
Then he organized 17 rescue teams to hurry to all the mines and collapsed buildings to pull out people from under the ruins.
With their concerted efforts, the teams managed to pull 117 workers and their family members out of the rubble.
By 9 pm the next day, all the miners trapped underground had been successfully rescued.
Meanwhile, after having to spend more than 20 hours scrambling across 15 km, the team of messengers finally reached Mianzhu and reported the mine's situation to the local government and the ChemChina headquarters in Beijing.
The leaders and workers showed unusual perseverance and unity in the face of the catastrophe.
Zhang Junnian, a workshop staff, lost two family members in the earthquake. After burying their bodies himself, the resilient Zhang devoted himself to rescue work.
Relief effort
An hour after the earthquake occurred on May 12, Ren Jianxin, president of ChemChina, established the corporation's disaster relief headquarters in Beijing, with himself as the commander-in-chief.
Upon receiving the report from the mine on May 13, Ren immediately reported the situation to the State Council's Anti-Earthquake and Relief Headquarters and asked for help from People's Liberation Army (PLA) troops.
At 2:30 am on May 15, helicopters of the air force dropped eight tons of relief material at the Qingping phosphate mine.
On May 14, ChemChina dispatched five people to hurry to Mianzhu to help the local government with relief work.
On May 15, the ChemChina head office organized a donation drive for the disaster-hit areas. By May 30, the drive had accumulated over 14.63 million yuan, all donated by businesses and employees of ChemChina.
In addition, the corporation donated 1 million yuan to the heavily damaged city of Deyang, 5 million yuan to Sichuan province and 2 million yuan to Gansu province.
On the afternoon of May 15, over 1,000 PLA rescuers finally reached the Qingping phosphate mine. More than 3,000 workers and their family members, as well as some villagers, were evacuated to safer places.
As there were 15 seriously injured people who were unable to walk, some Communist Party members volunteered to stay at the mine to look after the injured.
By 4:25 pm on May 20, a PLA helicopter had carried the last group of 14 workers trapped in the mine to a safe place.
An army officer who participated in the rescue work at the mine said: "It is the first time we saw such an orderly and organized disaster site. Their efforts greatly facilitated our further rescue work."
Through their relentless efforts, Qingping phosphate mine staff also saved 182 villagers in neighboring areas and repaired a 7-km stretch of highway.
In addition, the mine set up a rescue station at Hanwang township to offer food and medicine to its workers as well as neighboring villagers.
The Deyang municipal government profusely praised the mine's contribution in the city's relief work.
Another seriously damaged ChemChina subsidiary was the Southwest Chemical Machinery Company near Shifang, in Deyang city. The quake killed three people and injured more than 300 in the company.
Ninety-five percent of the company's buildings were damaged, resulting in a direct economic loss of more than 80 million yuan and indirect economic loss of more than 50 million yuan.
After the earthquake, the leaders of the company held an emergency meeting and established six task forces, responsible for medical aid, daily life supplies, energy restoration, hygiene and epidemic prevention, security and resumption of production.
Other subsidiaries of ChemChina also made their own contributions to the relief work.
The Guilin Latex Factory, a ChemChina subsidiary enterprise in south China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, donated 100,000 pairs of medical gloves (worth 150,000 yuan) to the quake zone.
The Zhonghao Chenguang Research Institute of Chemical Industry in Zigong, despite being damaged itself, provided 10 tons of purified drinking water to the disaster area on May 14.
"We are confident that we will finally win the battle of earthquake relief under the leadership of the central government," said Ren.
"And we have already begun planning reconstruction work."
Source: China Daily
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