Guardian’s Tania Branigan tells the incredible story of the pupils of Liu Han Hope Elementary school (刘汉希望小学) of Beichuan (北川) County, who survived the earthquake thanks to the school building which stood firm, then when realised being cut off and threatened by aftershocks and rockslide, trekked through the mountains to reach the safety, escorted by their teachers and local police.

The Liu Han Hope Elementary school in Beichuan county stands in the heart of the disaster zone yet, while hundreds died across Sichuan province in classrooms that crumbled to dust, every one of its 483 pupils survived last week’s quake.


China yesterday raised its toll of the dead and missing to 70,000, and warned of a “desperate need” for tents to shelter millions of homeless survivors. But the story of the children’s escape is a rare piece of good news. While other schools disintegrated, theirs stood firm. Even the three-storey glass wall remained intact. When the slopes around them began to threaten their safety, staff marched pupils as young as five out of their remote home on an all-day, all-night trek.


“It was nothing outstanding - just a teacher’s responsibility,” Xiao Xiaochuan said. “It was not done by one teacher but by the whole faculty and students, with help from police and officials.”

Read the full story from the Guardian website.




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