China's disaster relief office says it estimates that more than 50,000 people have died since Monday's earthquake in Sichuan province.
Some 20,000 have already been confirmed dead. State media say dozens of extra helicopters and planes are being sent to drop aid and lift out injured from rugged regions. Teams had cleared rocks to reopen three key access roads. Officials say Sichuan hospitals have treated 64,000 injured people. An 11-year-old girl has been pulled alive from rubble of a school in the town of Yingxiu, but for thousands of others hopes are fading. Many dams in Sichuan's mountainous west have been left badly damaged, according to China's water minister. Landslides have Deathtoll from China' earthquake hits 50,000 ...
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Taiwan warned over independence ... also caused dangerous back-ups of water along two rivers. A United Nations disaster expert Salvano Briceno says many of Sichuan's collapsed buildings were old, lagging in safety terms far behind construction in China's prosperous east. The government says it'll allow in the first foreign rescue teams, from Japan and Taiwan.
(Deutsche Welle)
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