Special report: Strong Earthquake Jolts SW China

    BEIJING, May 13 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of emergency workers and millions of yuan in urgently needed aid were flowing into the quake-hit areas of southwest China from around the country on Tuesday.

    The fire-fighting bureau of the Ministry of Public Security had mobilized 1,120 personnel and 30 sniffer dogs from 12 provinces and municipalities, said Yan Hongbing, a fire-fighting squad official in Sichuan.

    The Chongqing team set off early on Tuesday and would arrive at Dujiangyan City to start rescue operations, Yan said.

    A 53-strong rescue team from southern Hainan Province flew directly into Chengdu at midday on Tuesday. Other teams also headed for the affected areas on Tuesday.

    Mou Guangxun, head of the Hainan seismological bureau, said their main task was to reach the designated areas as quickly as possible, search for trapped people and do their best to rescue survivors.

    The 7.8-magnitude quake centered on Wenchuan County, 159 km northwest of Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province, occurred at 2:28 p.m. Monday. At least 12,000 people have been confirmed dead across the country.

    Donations ranging up to millions of yuan for the affected areas from companies, organizations, the public and provincial governments are also being raised or remitted to the disaster areas.

    The Tangshan City government in northern Hebei Province donated 10 million yuan (1.4 million U.S. dollars) on Tuesday to the Sichuan disaster relief headquarters. A quake with the same magnitude as the Wenchuan quake hit Tangshan in 1976, leaving about 240,000 people dead. The city's reconstruction received help from across the country.

    The city's civil affairs bureau and Red Cross Society would allocate one million yuan each to buy tents, quilts, clothes and food. The goods would be transported in 20 trucks on Wednesday to Sichuan.

    A Hebei-based auto company had donated 20 vehicles worth 2 million yuan, which were on their way to the quake-hit area in Sichuan.

    A Guangxi-based pharmaceutical company said it would donate medicines worth 2 million yuan and cash to Wenchuan. The first batch of materials, mainly for sterilization, had been transported to the area on Tuesday.

    Meanwhile, thousands of Internet users from home and abroad had donated 500,000 yuan through a public welfare platform of Tencent Inc., a Chinese Internet service portal.

    The company said it had donated 5 million yuan.