GRANDAD'S GRIEF: The air was tense with dread and anxiety as I arrived on Tuesday afternoon at Juyuan Secondary school, where 900 students were feared to have been buried by Monday's powerful earthquake in south-western China.

From a distance, I heard grandfather Liu Zhoubo crying before I got close enough to see the immense grief etched on his face. Already in his 70s, Mr Liu had gone without food or sleep since Monday afternoon while searching for news of his grandson, 15-year-old Liu Dingxian.

His heart was shattered on Tuesday when rescuers pulled out Dingxian's lifeless body from a school building which had caved in.

Grief soon turned to anger as a shaking grandfather asked why the school was so poorly built it collapsed before students had a chance to run for safety.

This is a question that will haunt many local government officials and building contractors in Sichuan for many years to come.