China-Rescue Operations
Rescue workers in China are battling heavy rain and shattered roads to find earthquake survivors among the tens of thousands of people buried in rubble.

The official death toll from Monday's quake in the southwestern province of Sichuan stands at just over 12,000, but the figure is expected to rise dramatically.

Many people remain trapped, missing or unaccounted for, with state media reporting that at least 7,700 people have died in one of the small towns worst hit by the disaster.

Survivors at the rural epicentre of the quake have finally begun to receive vital aid as China's army made its first airdrops of food in the stricken region.

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