 Thousands of people are still trapped beneath ruined buildings
A massive search and rescue operation is under way in south-western China after one of the most powerful earthquakes in decades. Troops have arrived in Wenchuan county at the epicentre, which was largely cut off by the quake - but heavy rain is hampering rescue operations. Elsewhere in Sichuan province, frantic efforts are being made to reach thousands of people under the rubble. The death toll is now more than 12,000, officials say, and looks set to rise. In one city, Mianyang, near the epicentre, more than 18,000 people are said to be buried under the rubble and 3,629 have been confirmed dead, state news agency Xinhua reports. In the nearby town of Mianzhu, at least 4,800 people are trapped under the rubble and massive landslides have buried roads to outlying villages, Xinhua says. Premier Wen Jiabao was quick to reach the scene and urged rescuers to clear roads into the worst-hit areas as fast as possible. "As long as there is even a little hope, we will redouble our efforts 100 times and will never relax our efforts," he told crying locals through a loudhailer in the badly hit Dujiangyan city, south-east of the epicentre.
The health ministry has made an urgent appeal for people to give blood to help the injured. The BBC's Michael Bristow describes a scene of organised chaos in Dujiangyan - with dazed survivors in the streets in their pyjamas while police try to direct traffic. He heard the story of one man whose uncle was trapped in the rubble of his apartment building. He was able to speak to him on his mobile phone, but could not reach him and was desperately searching for help. Panic is rife, he says, and there is a palpable sense of fear. Strong aftershocks have hit regularly, and rumours that others are about to strike have sent people scurrying through the streets, dragging bags behind them. People do not want to return to their homes, he says, and are preparing to spend another night in the open, in heavy rain, with no power or water. Waiting in vain The quake - now upgraded to 7.9 magnitude - struck on Monday at 1428 local time (0628 GMT) and was felt as far away as Beijing and the Thai capital, Bangkok.  The earthquake destroyed many roads |
Boulders and landslides are blocking roads in the worst-hit areas and helicopters have been unable to land because of the bad weather. Beijing has deployed 50,000 troops to help with relief efforts, but they have not yet all arrived. About 1,300 rescue troops and medics have reached Wenchuan county and immediately started searching for survivors and treating the injured, Xinhua reported. But there is still no word on casualties from the area, where - about 100,000 people live. Children pulled from the rubble at the school in Dujiangyan There were harrowing reports from the scene of a school collapse in Dujiangyan city, where 900 students were buried and at least 50 killed. Teenagers buried beneath the rubble of the three-storey Juyuan Middle School building struggled to break free, while others cried out for help. More than 100 people are thought to be buried underneath a hospital that collapsed. Relatives waited at the gate all day on Tuesday, but rescue workers only managed to pull out one body. In Beichuan county, some 80% of buildings were reported to have been destroyed. Meanwhile, hundreds of people were reported to have been buried in two collapsed chemical plants in Shifang in Sichuan. Open response More than 150 people were killed in the provinces of Gansu and Shaanxi, and in Chongqing municipality, Xinhua said. And there are fears for the safety of staff, tourists - including a group of 19 British visitors - and the panda population at a giant panda research centre at Wolong in Wenchuan, which has not yet been contacted. But 60 pandas at another breeding centre - in Chengdu - are reportedly safe.  | RECENT CHINA QUAKES March, 2008: 7.2 quake in Xinjiang - damage limited February 2003: 6.8 quake in Xinjiang - at least 94 dead, 200 hurt January 1998: 6.2 quake in rural Hebei - at least 47 dead, 2,000 hurt April 1997: 6.6 quake hits Xinjiang - 9 dead, 60 hurt January 1997: 6.4 quake in Xinjiang - 50 dead, 40 hurt |
China's Olympic Games organisers say they will scale down the route of the torch through the country and there will be a minute's silence when the next leg starts in the south-eastern city of Ruijin on Wednesday. US President George W Bush expressed condolences to victims' families, while the US, UK, the European Union, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan reportedly offered aid. China said it would accept international help to cope with the quake - the worst since 1976 when 242,000 people were killed in Tangshan - and offered its thanks. The government response was praised as "swift and very efficient" by Francis Marcus of the International Federation of the Red Cross in Beijing. But he added the scale of the disaster was such that "we can't expect that the government can do everything and handle every aspect of the needs". The BBC's Quentin Sommerville in Beijing says this is one of the most open and speedy responses to an emergency he has ever seen from Chinese state media. The fact the quake was felt in Beijing, he says, means millions of people will feel connected to the disaster and will be watching TV screens closely to see how the government responds.
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