The Sichuan government is backtracking on an earlier announcement about the total number of students who died in the May earthquake. Previously the government had said that 19,065 students were killed. Now, as AP reports, a local official is clarifying that that number is the total number of dead who have been identified:
(BEIJING) — A Chinese official says 19,065 of the people who died in May’s massive earthquake in Sichuan province have been identified.
Li Jiang from the Sichuan provincial propaganda office said Friday that an official translation at a news conference incorrectly stated that 19,065 schoolchildren had died in the disaster. The government still has not given a separate figure for the number of students killed.
I’m guessing it will be a while longer before we ever see that separate figure.