Death toll soars past 13,000

The death toll in China's earthquake climbed past 13,000 yesterday evening and looked set to rise much higher after media said some 19,000 people were buried in rubble in just one area.

Officials announced late yesterday that 500 Wenchuan residents were confirmed dead, Xinhua news agency reported. But the toll there and elsewhere is likely to soar.

Rain and severed roads are hampering rescuers in the mountainous area near the epicentre of Monday's 7.9 magnitude quake in the southwestern province of Sichuan.

Thirty People's Liberation Army (PLA) troops arrived at Wenchuan's Yingxiu township and rescued 300 residents, Xinhua said.

In a school of 850 students in Qingchuan County, Sichuan, 90 were killed and another 191 were missing, a local official told Xinhua.

A further 18,645 people were buried under debris in the city of Mianyang, Xinhua said.

In Mianzhu in Sichuan, rescuers said the death toll had risen to 3,000. About 500 people were pulled out alive from crushed buildings. An earlier report said 10,000 people there had been buried under rubble.

Attempts to find survivors have become a race against time and bad weather. Premier Wen Jiabao, who has thrown himself into the task of coordinating these efforts, sounded a grim note.

"The disaster situation is worse than expected, and the rescue sites are quite complex," Wen said, according to Xinhua.

Eleven tourists suspended in a gondola over a gorge in northern Sichuan's scenic Jiuzhaigou area were brought to safety after being trapped for nearly 24 hours.

Meanwhile a group of 31 British tourists visiting the Wolong panda reserve in the quake-hit area have returned safe and uninjured to the provincial capital, China's Foreign Ministry said late yesterday.

Officials have said more powerful aftershocks could hit the region and mudslides may add to the toll.

China's benchmark stock index ended down yesterday and trading in the shares of 66 companies was suspended.

Analysts said they did not expect serious economic effects from the disaster but supply shortages could fuel inflation, already at a near 12-year high.

The State Administration of Grain ordered local governments to ensure grain and cooking oil supplies and price stability.