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900 students feared buried alive in quake

BEIJING, May 12 (UPI) -- Up to 900 students may have been trapped when a high school collapsed in a 7.8-magnitude earthquake in China that killed at least 107 people, officials said.

The Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs said another 34 people were injured from the quake that rocked southwestern China Monday afternoon, reported Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency. The epicenter was in Wenshuan County in China's Sichuan province.

Tremors were felt in other parts of China, including the southern island province of Hainan, as well as Bangkok, Thailand, and Hanoi, Vietnam.

An underground water pipe burst near Chengdu's southern railway station, flooding a downtown area. Damage reports also included collapsed and cracks buildings in residential areas and downed communication networks, the news agency reported.

Venues for the 2008 Summer Olympics weren't damaged, Xinhua reported.

"This is a very dangerous earthquake," Bruce Presgrave, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey, told CNN.

Presgrave said the quake's damage potential was great because of its strength, nearness to population centers and shallow epicenter.

Five more earthquakes, measuring in magnitude between 4.0 and 6.0, occurred in nearby areas over the next several hours, USGS reported.

Feds to tour tornado-damaged areas

OKLAHOMA CITY, May 12 (UPI) -- Federal assistance representatives will see damage first-hand in a tour of the U.S. states ripped by tornadoes that killed at least 22 people, officials said.

Tornadoes spun along a path from Oklahoma into Missouri and Georgia during the weekend, leaving at least 22 people dead, officials said. The twisters packed winds of up to 175 miles per hour, CNN reported.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Federal Emergency Management Agency chief David Paulison said representatives of their offices planned to tour the disaster areas Tuesday.

President George Bush offered condolences to the families of the tornado victims in a statement issued Sunday.

"Mother's Day is a sad day for those who lost their lives in Oklahoma, Missouri and Georgia because of the tornadoes," Bush said in Waco, Texas. "The federal government will be moving hard to help."

Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry declared a state of emergency in Ottawa County, CNN reported.

"It's just horrific, it's devastating to all of us. It appears the search-and-rescue part of the mission is over and now we're in the cleanup phase."

"It looks like a war zone," Michelann Ooten, an Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management spokeswoman, told CNN.

Aid trickles into Myanmar

YANGON, Myanmar, May 12 (UPI) -- The first U.S. military plane carrying relief supplies to cyclone-devastated Myanmar arrived in the Asian country Monday, officials said.

The plane was loaded with 28,000 pounds of supplies including water, mosquito netting and blankets.

"One flight is much better than no flights," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said. "And we're going to keep on working to provide as much assistance as possible."

U.S. disaster teams, however, still haven't been issued visas, Johndroe said.

International relief agencies report very few visas have been issued, The New York Times said.

Officials from the United Nations estimate the cyclone death toll to be between 63,000 and 100,000 people, with millions left homeless, CNN reported.

Myanmar's reclusive military junta has been reluctant to allow relief workers and aid into the country formerly known as Burma since the cyclone struck more than a week ago.

The junta has said it would accept international aid but insisted it would distribute the supplies itself, prompting criticism from relief agencies.

Debbie Stothard, who heads the Southeast Asian human rights group ALTSEAN-Burma, said her group has gotten reports of aid packages being selectively distributed.

"There's people who are very concerned now that the reason the aid workers are being blocked is so that the military can deliver aid selectively, and so that they can appropriate the aid and pretend it was from them in the first place," she said.

Three dead in Sadr City attacks

BAGHDAD, May 12 (UPI) -- Deadly skirmishes were reported in Baghdad's Sadr City despite word of a cease-fire between the Iraqi government and followers of Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr.

Three people were killed separate incidents as violence flared Sunday night into Monday morning, CNN reported.

U.S. troops were fired upon and in the ensuing fight killed one person, officials said. Later, military officials said a "criminal" attacked U.S. soldiers with a rocket-propelled grenade and was shot and killed. In a third confrontation, soldiers fired upon a band of attackers, killing one.

The attacks occurred after a U.S. military official said it would be "premature" to conclude a truce between the Iraqi government and Sadr's militia was reached as the two sides have stated, CNN said.

Aussie survives shark attack

ALBANY, Australia, May 12 (UPI) -- An Australian swimmer says he survived a weekend shark attack by poking the beast in the eye after it dragged him underwater.

Authorities said the 13-foot white pointer that chomped on Jason Cull's leg Saturday was probably drawn to the Middleton beach area near Albany by a sick dolphin, The Australian reported. It was one of three sharks seen circling the area.

The 37-year-old man was swimming about 250 feet offshore when the shark attacked. Cull said the shark dragged him about five feet underwater. He said he poked it in the eye and started swimming for shore.

A volunteer at a local surf club heard his cries for help and pulled him to safety, The Australian reported.

Cull was hospitalized following surgery on his left leg.

The city of Albany said the body of a dolphin that apparently had died of illness was removed from the beach Monday morning.