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More than 100 hours after the 7.9-magnitude quake struck, hope was running out for thousands still buried under the rubble of numerous collapsed buildings.
A 55-man squad including men from the Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team of the Singapore Civil Defence Force arrived in Chengdu last night and headed immediately for the north-eastern city of Shifang.
Beijing's unprecedented decision to accept foreign help signalled a change of heart. It had said earlier that the time was not right for outside help to come.
The Japanese were the first to arrive, on Thursday.
Since Monday, China has gone about search and rescue efforts on its own, despatching no fewer than 130,000 army and paramilitary troops across the disaster zone.
Yesterday, it said it would set aside 5.4 billion yuan (S$1 billion) for the relief operation, up sharply from its earlier figure of 1.11 billion yuan.
Premier Wen Jiabao, who has been in the stricken region since Monday, visiting survivors and comforting the bereaved, said yesterday that the quake was more destructive than the one in 1976 which killed more than 250,000 in Tangshan.
The official death toll rose to 22,069 yesterday, though it is expected to soar past 50,000.
Giving hope to distraught families and tired rescuers were stories of survivors being found alive and brought to safety.
Vowing that rescue efforts would continue, Mr Wen said: 'We won't give up if there is even the slightest hope of finding more survivors.'
Chinese President Hu Jintao visited the quake zone yesterday and said that relief work had entered 'the most crucial phase'.
'We must make every effort, race against time and overcome all difficulties to achieve the final victory of the relief efforts,' Xinhua news agency quoted him as saying.
