2 Chinese killed in Vanuatu earthquake, says embassy

SUVA -- Gu Zihua, chargé d'affaires ad interim of the Chinese Embassy in Vanuatu, said in an interview with Xinhua on Wednesday that two Chinese from Fujian Province were preliminarily identified as having been killed in the Vanuatu earthquake.

Their specific identities and names are still being verified with the local police.

Gu said that three Chinese were reportedly trapped in a collapsed self-built building after the 7.3-magnitude earthquake hit Vanuatu on Tuesday. Staff from the embassy and Chinese companies in Vanuatu rushed to rescue the trapped people till late night, with two saved and one killed.

On the same day, a shop building collapsed in the center of the capital, Port Vila, burying many people. The embassy later confirmed that a Chinese was killed.

Gu told Xinhua that the embassy is stepping up contact with the Vanuatu police to confirm the identities and names of the two victims.