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China rescuers push to reach quake victims

China quake

Chinese rescuers struggled to reach Wenchuan, the city near the epicenter of the country's worst earthquake in 58 years. Sichuan Vice-Governor Li Chengyun said the death toll in his province, the worst affected region in the country, has exceeded 12,000 and 26,206 are injured. More than 9,400 are buried under rubble.

Rain grounded helicopters and most roads in the area are rubble-strewn, hampering efforts to get to Wenchuan, a city of 118,000, state-run Xinhua News Agency said. The first rescue and relief soldiers arrived in Wenchuan, which sits in the foothills of the Tibetan plateau, state-run China Central Television reported at about 2 p.m. local time Tuesday.

In U.S. anxious Chinese immigrants follow quake news . | LA Times

The largest earthquake to hit China in more than 30 years is likely to wreak great economic damage on Sichuan province and the nearby megacity of Chongqing, but not on China as a whole. | Forbes