On May 12, 2008, at 14:28 local time, a powerful earthquake shook Sichuan province in south-west China. It was the country’s worst quake in over three decades. Tens of thousands of people were killed, many of them school children, buried under the rubble of their schools. Blame was put on the shoddy workmanship of the school buildings, quickly nicknamed "tofu schools", which collapsed like packs of cards. The angry parents refused to be silent and wanted to understand why their children’s schools could crumble so easily. Over time, allegations of corruption were made, notably by human rights activists, but they were not followed up. Seven years on, the Sichuan quake is still in everyone’s memories and the parents’ questions remain unanswered. Could the carnage have been avoided? Our reporters returned to the scene of the disaster.
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