China Quake: More than 12,000 Dead

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.

The official death toll reported by state-run media stands at just over 12,000, but an unofficial tally of individual communities provided by the news services added up to 19,565.

Local officials said the quake killed more than 7,700 people in the town of Yingxiu -- about three-quarters of everyone who lived there, according to the Xinhua news agency.

Yingxiu is in hard-hit 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.

Rescuers found at least 500 dead Tuesday in the Chinese district at the epicenter of the magnitude 7.9 earthquake, while heavy rain, collapsed bridges and damaged roads complicated efforts to get troops and aid workers to the worst-hit towns.

The rain drove some people back inside homes even as more aftershocks rattled the region, witnesses reported.
The epicenter of Monday's quake was in Wenchuan County, Sichuan Province, 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, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao 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."

Wen also visited a stadium in the city of Mianyang, where more than 10,000 people have 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."

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, the soldiers reported.

All the beds were filled at Sichuan University Huaxi Hospital, one of the largest in the provincial capital of Chengdu.

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 has been the most transparent of any disaster, with state media frequently updating casualty tolls and deploying troops rapidly to the worst-hit areas.

"The government was very secretive about it, which in turn allowed the disease the spread across China and Asia a lot quicker than it otherwise would have done," Leather told CNN. "This time they have been very open about it, which I think is maybe showing signs that lessons have been learned."

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, the main source of food for the panda's.

In other developments Tuesday:


- U.S. White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said President Bush had spoken with China's President Hu Jintao in the morning. "He expressed his condolences on the earthquake and reiterated his offer to assist in any way possible," she said.

- China accepted a $500,000 U.S. contribution for relief efforts that will be given to the International Red Cross. The United States is "prepared to do more," said Ky Luu, director of the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance for the U.S. Agency for International Development, but China has not requested aid from the United States.

- Zhen Yao Wang, a spokesman for China's civil administration department, said China is thankful for international assistance, "and we will make efforts to ensure that these materials and money will reach the disaster hit area as early as possible."

Source: CNN