MOSCOW (Sputnik) – According to the People’s Daily newspaper, as of 1 p.m. local time (05:00 GMT) eight tourists and two locals were among those killed in the quake, while nine others have not been identified yet. As many as 247 people, including nationals of France and Canada were injured.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed to Sputnik that several foreigners were injured.
"According to preliminary data, several foreigners were slightly injured … They were transported to hospitals where they received aid," the ministry said.
Beijing has already notified the authorities of home countries of the injured foreigners.
The 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck the Sichuan province on Tuesday. Tremors were registered in the Jiuzhaigou district of the Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture. Shortly thereafter, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre registered another powerful 6.3-magnitude earthquake in the same province.
According to the authorities of the prefecture, more than 31,000 tourists were evacuated.
