China's telecommunications industry has lost about $968 million because of damages stemming from the country's strongest earthquake in 58 years, a government official said. Bloomberg reports.

"As of 3 p.m. yesterday, eight people working for telecommunications companies died, 69 were injured and 34 are still missing after the earthquake, Zhao Zhiguo, deputy director of the regulatory department at the Ministry of Industry and Information said in an Internet broadcast today.

The earthquake has caused about $29 billion in economic losses for companies operating in the area surrounding Sichuan, according to government estimates. The damage may push up prices of materials needed for reconstruction, threatening to exacerbate inflation, currently near a 12-year ".

Source: http://www.textually.org/