LUSHAN: Clogged roads, debris and landslides impeded rescuers yesterday as they battled to find survivors of a powerful earthquake in mountainous southwest China that has left at least 208 dead.
Huge boulders blocked rescue vehicles along roads leading to some of the worst-hit areas, and some areas were only accessible by foot along broken passes through the rough terrain.
Survivors, including the elderly, were carried out on the backs of neighbours as well as by helicopter, as rescuers were also bolstered by thousands of civilian volunteers who rushed to the area to help.
State broadcaster CCTV showed orange-suited emergency workers making desperate dashes past cliff-edges, trying to avoid sudden landslides in a region weakened by more than 2,000 aftershocks.
Industrial diggers clawed through debris, including the mangled remains of cars and motorbikes crushed by tumbling rocks, to clear roads also clogged by huge queues of traffic.
The 6.6-magnitude quake, which hit Sichuan province on Saturday, has left 23 missing and more than 11,000 injured, local authorities said, while some 17,000 families have lost their homes.
Forecasts of rain in the disaster area yesterday increased fears of deadly landslides.
The constant sound of ambulance sirens heading to Lushan People’s Hospital, near the quake’s epicentre, was a reminder that the earthquake was still claiming victims two days after it struck.
Premier Li Keqiang left the quake zone on Sunday, state media reported, after rushing to the area the day before to direct rescue efforts, in his first major public test since being appointed to the senior post in March.
More than 17,000 Chinese soldiers and police have joined the rescue mission.
AFP
