Rumours fly as China quake victims seek news

By Ben Blanchard

CHENGDU, China, May 16 (Reuters) - The rumours are flying thick and fast after Monday's quake in which more than 50,000 people may have died -- and so far they have all proved to be unfounded.

One says a dam has collapsed and will kill thousands. Another that a chemical factory has exploded. The main highways linking cities have been closed indefinitely, says another. And then there is the one that another huge earthquake is on the way.

All have been spread by word of mouth, online, by text message and telephone calls. With power out and mobile telephone communication patchy, the government has a new battle on its hands trying to control disinformation.

China's carefully controlled state media has swung into action, giving often live and sometimes dramatic accounts of the situation on the ground, in stark contrast to previous disasters where obfuscation and cover-ups were the norm.

But this has not stopped the flow of gossip, and complaints from people that they are being kept in the dark.

"There's not enough information," said Liu Kaimao, standing in a hospital in the city of Shifang, an hour's drive northeast of Sichuan's provincial capital of Chengdu.

"The government must tell us what's going on. Our demands are not high," he said, as a woman standing next to him nodded her head in agreement.

"What we most want to know is, will there be another earthquake, and how big will the aftershocks be? That's basic information we've not had," Liu added, before wandering off, shaking his head.

State radio has been working overtime warning residents not to believe rumours, and not to spread them.

"Spreading rumours will only worsen the disaster," announcers have been intoning since the earthquake struck. "We have the most accurate and authoritative information. Believe only what we say."

Xinhua news agency said 17 "malicious rumourmongers" had been punished for spreading "false information, sensational statements and sapping public confidence".

For those with no access to radio, television or newspapers, large banners have begun appearing with the same message. One has been strung up across a road out of which survivors from one of the worst hit areas, Beichuan, are being evacuated.

The ruling Communist Party has told officials to "ensure social stability".

"Strike hard in accordance with the law at this kind of behaviour which seeks only chaos in the world," the Chengdu Commercial News warned in an editorial. "Rumours will stop at those who are brave and upstanding."

To be sure, China has a bad record of covering up bad news. The SARS epidemic which started in late 2002 was not initially reported until a doctor blew the whistle and forced the disease into the public eye.

And until only three years ago, death tolls from natural disasters were considered state secrets.

For some on the ground in Sichuan though, what they can see with their own eyes tells the real story. "Sure, there's lots of rumours flying around," said Hou Sihai, sitting outside his crumpled house in the mountain village of Xinshi, where residents say aid has yet to reach.

"What I know for sure is that we don't have enough to eat or drink."

(Editing by Nick Macfie)