Searching for the Missing in China

His words are heartbreaking for any parent to utter.

(Sho Huang/IFRC)
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"I haven't heard from my 13-year-old daughter for a week since the earthquake and I don't know whether she's dead or alive," says Yang Mingyuan, a short wiry man of around 40 years old.

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His eerily calm face suggests a disconnect from his emotions. Yang has just left his details with the volunteers manning a missing persons desk at a stadium in the Sichuan city of Mianyang, which has been turned into a makeshift shelter for more than 10,000 people made homeless by the massive May 12 earthquake.