The death toll from China's May 12 earthquake last year in Sichuan Province remains at 68,712, said authorities with the civil affairs department of the provincial government on Thursday morning.

Another 17,921 people in Sichuan were missing after the disaster, said Huang Mingquan, head of the civil affairs department.

Both numbers were unchanged from those released last year.

It takes time for local government to count the missing as dead. According to the law, relatives could apply to have a person registered as dead after he/she had been missing for two years from accidents.

The final death toll shall be checked and announced by the State Council, according to authorities with the Civil Affairs Ministry last June.

A total of 5,335 students in Sichuan were dead or missing from the magnitude 8.0 quake, said Tu Wentao, head of the provincial education department.

Another 546 students were handicapped in the southwestern province, Tu said.

(Xinhua News Agency May 7, 2009)