3 injured, houses damaged in 6.1-magnitude earthquake in China's Sichuan province
Beijing, Jun 1: Three people were severely injured and several houses were damaged when a 6.1-magnitude earthquake rattled the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan on Wednesday.
The earthquake struck Lushan county of Ya'an City at 5:00 pm local time. The epicentre, with a depth of 17 km, was monitored at 30.37 degrees north latitude and 102.94 degrees east longitude, the China Earthquake Networks Centre (CENC) said.
At least three people were severely injured in the quake, Chengdu Economic Daily reported, citing Ya'an's health department.
The quake was followed by strong aftershocks.
Three minutes after the quake, Baoxing County was struck by an aftershock of 4.5 magnitude.
Strong tremors were also felt as far as Sichuan's capital city of Chengdu and Chongqing Municipality, the state-run CGTN reported.
Provincial firefighters of over 1,400 people have been mobilised to the sites. Meanwhile, rescue teams of adjacent Guizhou, Yunnan provinces and Chongqing municipality are prepared as reinforcements.
The Sichuan fire department said some houses in Lushan County were partially damaged and it's continuing communicating with relevant counties and towns that have been affected.
The municipal government of Ya'an has activated a Level-II emergency response, the second highest of the four-tier system of emergency responses.
China's ministry of emergency management has also sent a team of experts to Lushan for rescue and relief operations.
Due to the two quakes, China's railway authority has urgently halted relevant sections of train lines.
Sichuan province suffered China's deadliest 7.9 magnitude earthquake in 2008 in which 90,000 people were killed.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Gujarat ATS busts illegal alprazolam facility in Rajasthan with local cops; 3 held
Ahmedabad (PTI): The Gujarat ATS and Rajasthan Police jointly busted an illegal alprazolam-making factory in the neighbouring state and arrested three men with 22 kg of psychotropic substances and the drug, valued at Rs 30 lakh, officials said on Monday.
The accused had rented a pharmaceutical unit to manufacture the drug, prescribed for anxiety and panic disorders, in an industrial area near Bhiwadi town of Rajasthan.
Alprazolam falls under the purview of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act because of its misuse as a psychotropic substance, according to an official release.
Acting on specific inputs, personnel of Gujarat ATS and Rajasthan Police raided the unit on Sunday, leading to the arrest of Anshul Shastri, Akhilesh Maurya, and Krishnakumar Yadav.
Police recovered 5 kg of alprazolam and 17 kg of a mixture of other psychotropic substances used as raw material, taking the total seizure to 22 kg, valued at around Rs 30 lakh, said the release.
The substances were allegedly being manufactured illegally without any authorisation or licence, and were meant for sale in the illicit drug market.
A preliminary investigation suggested that one of the arrested accused, Shastri, was involved in sourcing raw materials required for manufacturing alprazolam through his trading firm, according to the release.
Shastri and his business partner Maurya took a pharma unit in Bhiwadi on rent with the help of Yadav, a chemist versed in the production process, it said.
Rajasthan Police registered an FIR at the Bhiwadi sector-3 police station following the raid under relevant sections of the NDPS Act and are investigating further.
