Official death toll of pupils issued

A total of 5,335 students died or went missing in the Sichuan earthquake, local authorities said Thursday, giving an official figure for the first time since 11,687 schools were destroyed or damaged on May 12 last year.

No detailed list of the dead or missing students has been released. Instead, the number was calculated on the basis of applications received from families of dead or missing students for State compensation and relief funds, and is

?"reliable", Sichuan province's education chief Tu Wentao told a press conference yesterday in Sichuan. Another 546 students were disabled in the quake, Tu said.

This May 12 marks the first anniversary of the 8-magnitude quake which killed more than 69,000 people and left 18,000 missing, according to official figures.