Firefighters are working around the clock to transfer affected residents and search for survivors near the epicenter of a 6.8-magnitude earthquake which struck Tsogo Township in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region on Tuesday morning.
Fifty firefighters from Xizang Forest Fire Brigade are searching across rubbles in Yejiang Village of Tsogo Township in an effort to rescue the survivors within the 72 hours since the quake took place.
The town has 76 households and over 90 percent of its buildings were destroyed by the earthquake.
The quake hit Dingri County in the city of Xigaze at 09:05 on Tuesday, with the epicenter located in Tsogo Township of Dingri. The area within 10 kilometers of the epicenter has an average altitude of about 4,446 meters.
As of 19:00 Tuesday a total of 126 people had been confirmed dead and 188 others injured.
Rescue is particularly difficult in a village like Yejiang where houses typically made of earth bricks and wood are especially vulnerable to earthquake due to fragile structure.
Research work in the village are completely conducted manually by firefighters since large vehicles were blocked from entering the village because of the narrow road.
Currently, all of the 230 trapped residents in Yejiang have been transferred to safe locations and more than 100 yaks were also relocated.
A total of 215 firefighters from the Xizang Forest Fire Brigade are currently searching for survivors and erecting tents for local residents across the affected towns.
All-out rescue efforts underway at epicenter following Xizang 6.8-magnitude quake
South Korea's court on Tuesday granted the extension of the warrant to arrest the impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol, which was issued by the same court on Dec. 31 last year.
The joint investigation unit, composed of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), the National Office of Investigation (NOI) and the defense ministry's investigative headquarters, said in a notice that the warrant to arrest Yoon was issued again in the afternoon.
The unit requested the Seoul Western District Court to re-issue an arrest warrant against Yoon on Monday when the first warrant expired after failing to arrest Yoon last Friday.
It marked the first time in the Asian country's modern history that an arrest warrant was issued against a sitting president.
The validity term of the second warrant could reportedly be longer than the first one which was valid for a week.
The CIO investigators and police officers attempted to arrest the impeached president in the presidential residence on Jan. 3, but it failed as the presidential security service blocked the execution of the warrant.
The impeachment motion against Yoon was passed in the National Assembly on Dec. 14 last year and was delivered to the constitutional court to deliberate about it for up to 180 days, during which Yoon's presidential power is suspended.
Yoon, who was named by investigative agencies as a suspected ringleader on an insurrection charge, declared martial law on the night of Dec. 3, but it was revoked by the National Assembly hours later.
South Korea's court grants extension of warrant to arrest President Yoon
