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'One minute, one second could mean a child's life,' said Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (left). -- PHOTO: AFP
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DUJIANGYAN - CHINA'S most devastating earthquake in three decades killed more than 12,000 people with the toll likely to soar after state media said on Tuesday nearly 19,000 were buried under rubble in one city alone.
Storms were hampering rescue efforts in the mountainous area around the epicentre of Monday's 7.9 magnitude quake that pummelled the southwestern province of Sichuan.
Rescuers are reporting scenes of devastation at the epicentre at Wenchuan, a remote county about 100 km northwest of Chengdu, the provincial capital.
More than 12,000 people had died in Sichuan and more than 26,000 were injured, the province's vice governor, Li Chengyun, told reporters. More than 3.46 million 'rooms' had been damaged.
But Xinhua news agency later said 18,645 people were also buried under debris in the city of Mianyang, neighbouring Wenchuan, suggesting the death toll is likely to rise sharply.
Thousands of others were reported buried under factories, schools and other buildings elsewhere. Hundreds more have died in neighbouring provinces.
'The biggest obstacle is severed roads,' Mr Li said, adding that thousands of troops had been ordered to parachute into Wenchuan and 200 had been deployed on foot to open blocked roads into the county.
Mr Li said 7,395 had been confirmed dead in Mianyang, but only 161 bodies had been counted in Aba prefecture, the epicentre at Wenchuan.
About 60,000 residents had yet to be accounted for in the county, Xinhua said.
Aftershocks
A strong aftershock rocked Chengdu on Tuesday, one of 2,354 in the province over the past day, keeping nervous residents on edge. An official warned more strong aftershocks could hit Sichuan. Premier Wen Jiabao, visiting Sichuan, ordered troops to clear roads to Wenchuan.
'Please speed up the shipping of food. The kids have nothing to eat now,' Mr Wen said amid a crowd of crying children.
Rain and thick clouds over a province famous for its giant panda reserves meant that military helicopters sent to the area could not yet land.
More than 16,000 soldiers had joined disaster relief efforts in Sichuan, and another 34,000 were advancing to the area.
Bodies in streets
In Dujiangyan - about midway between Chengdu and the epicentre - there was devastation, with buildings reduced to rubble and bodies in the streets.
Troops and ambulances thronged the streets, and military trucks able to do heavy lifting had arrived. But many residents simply stood beside their wrecked homes, cradling possessions in their arms. Others huddled in relief tents under heavy rain.
'At least 60 or 70 old people lived there, as well as children,' said a hospital worker surnamed Huo, gesturing to a building in ruins. Mattresses and household objects could be seen poking through the rubble.
'How could they survive that?' she asked.
Rescuers had worked frantically through the night, pulling bodies from buildings demolished by the quake, which rolled from Sichuan across much of China and was felt as far away as Bangkok and Hanoi.
In Dujiangyan, about 900 teenagers were buried under a collapsed three-storey school building. Wen bowed three times in grief before some of the first 50 bodies pulled out, Xinhua reported.
'Not one minute can be wasted,' said Mr Wen, a trained geologist.
'One minute, one second could mean a child's life.'
Frantic relatives tried to push past a line of soldiers surrounding the school, desperate for news of their children.
'We're still pulling out people alive, but many, many have died,' said one medical worker.
A group of about 15 British tourists were out of reach near the epicentre, likely in Wolong a panda reserve whose phone lines were cut by the quake, Xinhua reported. China said that there had been no reports of foreign casualties as of midday (0400 GMT).
The Sichuan quake is the worst to hit China since the 1976 Tangshan tremor in northeastern China where up to 300,000 died.
Countries offer aid
Offers of aid have come from around the world. China asked Japan for aid and Tokyo is set to provide an initial $4.8 million in cash and goods, the Japanese foreign minister said on Tuesday.
The United States, Britain, the European Union, South Korea and Taiwan have also offered assistance since the disaster, which occurred three months before the Beijing Olympics.
Beijing Olympic officials on Tuesday assured foreigners planning to visit China for this August's Games that the country is safe despite the earthquake.
The International Olympic Committee said it would donate $1 million and the United Nations also offered support.
Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, accused by Beijing of involvement in deadly riots in the Tibetan capital in March, expressed his concern and offered his condolences.
China on Tuesday welcomed the offers and said it was moved by the show of support.
Read the following:
Rescue and relief efforts for China quake victims
Foreign responses to China quake
900 teens trapped under collapsed school building
Eye-witness accounts of China quake survivors
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