Relief troops prepare to board planes at an airport in Kaifeng, capital of central China's Henan Province, on May 13, 2008. Chinese authorities have dispatched batches of relief troops to join in disaster relief efforts after a major earthquake jolted southwest China's Sichuan Province Monday afternoon.(Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

Chinese Premier orders to open up roads to epicenter before 12 p.m.

    DUJIANGYAN, Sichuan, May 13 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao ordered to remove barriers and open up roads to epicenter before 12 p.m. Tuesday after a strong earthquake jolted southwest China's Sichuan Province Monday afternoon.

    Wen held an emergency meeting at 7: a.m. Tuesday morning, saying "We must try our best to open up roads to the epicenter and rescue people trapped in the disaster-hit areas." Full story

Still in pain, quake-hit China races against time as death toll nears 10,000

    BEIJING, May 13 (Xinhua) -- Rescuers are racing against time to reach survivors a day after the strongest quake that hit China in more than three decades jolted the southwestern province of Sichuan.

    The country was immersed in immense grief as the death toll rose to nearly 10,000. China's English-language newspaper China Daily silhouetted the front page in black to mourn the victims. The headline reads: "The Day the Earth Moved." Full story

At least 1,000 students buried in China county worst hit by quake

    BEICHUAN, Sichuan, May 13 (Xinhua) -- At least 1,000 students and teachers were dead or missing in a high school in Beichuan county of southwest China's Sichuan Province, which suffered the worst from Monday's earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale.

    The main building of Beichuan Middle School in Mianyang City, 160 kilometers northeast of Chengdu, collapsed when the quake hit at around 2:30 pm, and very few students escaped, parents and rescuers said. Full story