Rescue efforts are still ongoing. Officials have not provided information on the cause of the explosion that took place in the Hubei province city of Shiyan.
The toll, as compiled by Johns Hopkins University, doesn't include the deaths of those who couldn't get care for other diseases, or the many deaths feared unrecorded.
The New York Times columnist says the stroke forced him to choose: He could focus on what had been lost, or on what remained. His memoir is The Beauty of Dusk. Originally broadcast March 22, 2022.