China quake leaves 8,000 monks homeless

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BEIJING, Apr 26 (AFP): The quake in China's remote northwest has left more than 8,000 monks homeless after damaging nearly 90 monasteries, state media said Monday, as the focus of relief work moved onto resettling survivors.
Authorities in the province of Qinghai said repairing monasteries would be a priority in reconstruction efforts, the state-run China Daily said, nearly two weeks after the 6.9-magnitude earthquake, which killed over 2,200 people.
"By the end of this year, we hope to restore the living quarters of the monasteries for more than 8,000 monks now living in makeshift tents," Leshi, head of Yushu's ethnic and religious affairs committee, was quoted as saying.
More than 23,000 monks and lamas live in hundreds of monasteries in Yushu, a rugged prefecture that sits at an average altitude of 4,000 metres (over 13,000 feet) on the Tibetan plateau.