CNN关于中国地震报道的最新新闻:
Quake death toll 'soars' as rescuers dig deeper
- Story Highlights
- NEW: Quake death toll soars to nearly
15,000, according to state media
- 178 students confirmed dead after school building collapsed
- About three-quarters of one town's residents killed, state media says
- Soldiers reach epicenter of quake in Wenchuan county in Sichuan province
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SICHUAN PROVINCE, China (CNN) -- China's death toll from a massive earthquake
appeared to soar Wednesday as rescuers delved into some of the hardest-hit areas
of the country's southwest.
An elderly woman is rescued after being trapped for two days in a collapsed
apartment in Dujiangyan.
The official death toll reported by state-run media stands at just over 14,866,
but an unofficial tally of individual communities provided by news services added
up to 19,565.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao headed to the quake's epicenter in Wenchuan county
Wednesday afternoon, according to the Xinhua news agency.
"Time is life," said Wen, who is heading up China's relief effort.
Local officials said the quake killed more than 7,700 people in the town of
Yingxiu -- about three-quarters of the population, according to Xinhua.  Search continues for quake victims »
Yingxiu is in Sichuan province, where 20,000 Chinese soldiers have been mobilized
for rescue and recovery, state media reported. Another 30,000 were en route to
the region.
Thousands of troops are traveling by train -- on rail lines that are also transporting
supplies. Watch devastation caused by China quake »
"The top priority for the railway network in China is to deliver disaster-relief
troops, personnel and goods to the affected area as soon as possible," said Wang
Yongping, spokesman for the Ministry of Railways. He said many passenger trains
would be diverted to ferry troops.  View a map of the affected area »
Wednesday brought new horrors from the rubble.
At one three-story school in Sichuan's Qingchuan county 178 students were confirmed
dead after the building collapsed, a local official said.
Rescuers found at least 500 dead Tuesday in the Chinese district at the epicenter
of the magnitude 7.9 earthquake. Heavy rain, collapsed bridges and damaged roads
complicated efforts to get troops and aid workers to the worst-hit towns. Watch rescuers dig for victims »
"We will do our utmost to reopen the links to epicenter as soon as possible
-- so as to restore the transportation links to the whole province," said Feng
Zhenglin, China's vice minister of transport.
The epicenter of Monday's quake was in Wenchuan county, Sichuan, about 1,500
km (960 miles) southwest of Beijing. Xinhua reported the death toll exceeded 12,000
before Wednesday's latest reports, with more than 26,000 injured, 7,800 missing
and more than 9,400 trapped beneath debris.
During a visit to a school in Shifang, where more than 100 children were trapped
beneath rubble, Wen promised that saving lives was a top priority.
"We will put our best efforts forward to save all those alive who can be saved,"
he said. "This disaster has all tested us. We all have to band together and have
confidence and push forward."
He also visited a stadium in the city of Mianyang, where more than 10,000 people
had been temporarily resettled, Xinhua reported.
"The transportation of food must be faster," the news agency quoted him as telling
government officials. "Children are short of food." Watch how China's reaction to this crisis compares to
previous disasters »
Hundreds of soldiers and disaster workers descended on Wenchuan, many of them
digging by hand, according to the disaster relief headquarters of the Chengdu Military
Area Command. Soldiers said only 3,000 of the town's 12,000 residents survived
the quake.
More than 70 percent of the town's roads were damaged, and almost all bridges
had collapsed, they reported.
All the beds were filled at Sichuan University Huaxi Hospital, one of the largest
in the provincial capital of Chengdu. Watch survivors cope with with living outside »
Nurses said the most common injuries were broken bones, bruises and scrapes.
State media reported thousands of victims had sought care at the hospital, where
medical supplies were running low.
Fear of becoming trapped during an aftershock led about 200 people to sleep
outside in cots, on lawn chairs and on the ground outside the hospital in an area
intended for bicycles.
At the Third Military Medical University Southwest Hospital, state-run media
reported that nurses and doctors were donating their own blood.
China is no stranger to natural disasters: A 1976 earthquake here killed more
than 250,000 people. But analysts said the Chinese response to Monday's quake had
been the most transparent of any disaster, with state media frequently updating
casualty tolls and deploying troops rapidly to the worst-hit areas.  View a photo wall of damage and rescue efforts »
Li Chengyun, vice governor of Sichuan, said about 3.5 million homes were destroyed
in the province. David Jones, an English teacher in the city of Chengdu, said residents
were camping out on riverbanks, in parking lots and other open spaces, despite
"terrible" weather.
"People are doing everything they can to stay outside," he said. "In a lot of
cases, they can't return to their buildings."
He said survivors were lining up to donate blood and remained calm, but appeared
"extremely tired."
"The people here have been really helpful to each other, making sure everybody
has supplies," he said. "I haven't seen any price-gouging. The mood here has gone
from shock, fear, to tiredness."
Wenchuan is the refuge for much of China's panda population, and the State Forestry
Administration said the 67 captive pandas among the more than 130 pandas in the
Wolong Giant Panda Reserve were not injured. However, the caregivers were worried
about the bamboo leaf supply.
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