(chinadaily.com.cn/Xinhua/Agencies)
Updated: 2008-05-18 16:42

Chinese President Hu Jintao (R) shakes hands with a rescuer when he inspects disaster relief work in the quake-hit Xuankou Town of Wenchuan County, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, May 17, 2008. [Xinhua]

Desperate Rescue Continues

Rescue workers have plucked more than 60 more survivors from the rubble following Monday's quake in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan, even as hopes fade for the estimated 10,000 people or so still trapped under the rubble.

An aftershock of the massive earthquake, of 6.0 magnitude early on Sunday centered 80 km (50 miles) west of Guangyuan, the latest in a series of aftershocks to hit Sichuan.

There was no immediate word of additional damage or casualties in the area, Xinhua said.

In the provincial capital, Chengdu, some 200 km south of the new tremor's epicenter, buildings swayed and people rushed out into the streets, risking a soaking from a passing storm.

But military facilities close to the affected zone, including nuclear research facilities, are "all in a safe and controllable state," a Ministry of Defense official told a press conference in Beijing Sunday afternoon.

Ma Jian, deputy director of the Combat Department of the General Staff Headquarters of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), told the press conference hosted by the Information Office under the State Council that the nuclear facilities have been put under strict protection by forces of the armed police and PLA immediately after the strike of earthquake on May 12.

"I could say in a responsible manner that all these facilities are safe and secure," Ma said. "There is no problem at all."

In Yingxiu, close to the epicenter of Monday's quake, at least 56 people were rescued, the Xinhua news agency said.

Soldiers engaged in relief work "have their hands stained with blood and earth after days of searches in the debris," Xinhua added.

Thousands of people have fled in the Beichuan area amid fears a lake could burst its banks, hampering rescue efforts after the deadliest earthquake in more than three decades.

At least one barrier lake, formed after rocks blocked a river, has burst its banks but caused no casualties, Xinhua said.

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