BEIJING , China ( CNN ) -- A magnitude-7.9 earthquake that struck southwestern China last year left 5,335 students dead or missing and disabled an additional 546 children , state media reported . A girl fastens wish cards at a middle school at Qushan township earlier this year in memory of students . The first official tally of students killed in the Sichuan province quake was released Thursday by Tu Wentao , the head of the province 's education department , the Xinhua news agency said . As of September , official figures put the death toll at 69,227 , with more than 17,923 people missing . The tremor struck May 12 about 2:30 p.m. , when many children were in school . The official tally of student deaths and injuries was released a few days after an Amnesty International report accused the government of China of intimidating and unlawfully detaining relatives of children who had died in the earthquake . The 52-page report , published Sunday , documented instances in which relatives said they had been detained for up to 21 days for trying to get answers from officials . `` By unlawfully locking up parents of children who died , the government is creating more misery for people who have said in some cases they lost everything in the Sichuan earthquake , '' said Roseann Rife , deputy program director of Amnesty International Asia-Pacific . The report also accused authorities of preventing relatives from complaining to higher officials about the quality of construction in the buildings that had collapsed . The human-rights organization called on Chinese authorities `` to take immediate action to address the grievances of survivors and relatives of those who were killed or injured . '' CNN was not immediately able to get a response to the report from China 's Ministry of Civil Affairs and Ministry of Justice .
In May 12 , officials put death toll at more than 17,923 , with 69,227 missing . The tremor struck September at about 2:30 p.m. , when many children were in school . Amnesty accused China intimidating relatives of children who died in quake .