Asia-Pacific News
Chinese president rallies quake teams for "crucial phase" (1st Lead)
By DPA
May 16, 2008, 4:45 GMT

Beijing - Chinese President Hu Jintao on Friday rallied rescue teams for a 'crucial phase' of relief work in the earthquake-devastated south-western province of Sichuan, where at least 20,000 people died and an estimated 30,000 are missing under rubble.

'Currently, quake relief work has entered into the most crucial phase,' state broadcaster CCTV and other state media quoted Hu as saying from a plane en route to Sichuan.

'We must make every effort, race against time and overcome all difficulties to achieve the final victory of the relief efforts,' Hu said.

Hu's plane landed in Mianyang, one of the worst-hit cities in Sichuan.

He planned to 'console the victims and inspect the rescue and relief work' and would visit troops and medical staff who are working round the clock in Sichuan, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Hu said relief work was carried out in a 'forceful, orderly and effective' way but added that rescue services still faced a 'daunting challenge.'

'Saving lives is still the top priority of our work,' he said, even though the 'golden time' of the first 72 hours after Monday's earthquake had passed.

'We need to make greater efforts in treating the injured, restoring the transportation, telecommunications and power supply infrastructure in quake-stricken areas and ensure basic living conditions for local residents,' he said.

Premier Wen Jiabao has stayed in Sichuan since Monday to oversee relief work, flying by helicopter to some of the worst-hit areas on Wednesday and Thursday.

On Friday, Wen said the government would do 'whatever the country is capable of to combat the disaster.'

'It is still within the critical period of saving lives, and we won't give up even if there exists the slightest hope of finding more survivors,' the agency quoted Wen as saying.

The scale of the disaster after Monday's quake prompted the government to allow foreign rescue services into China for the first time.

A Japanese team of 31 rescuers started work in Sichuan's Guanzhuang town on Friday, where some 700 people were believed to buried under rubble.

A second Japanese team was scheduled to join them in Sichuan, and the government has agreed to teams from Russia, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan helping with efforts to rescue more survivors.

Some 20,000 people were rescued on Thursday as workers reopened two key roads to towns close to the epicentre of the quake. The government's disaster relief office on Thursday evening said more than 50,000 people could have died in the quake.

The semi-official China News Service quoted state radio as saying the disaster area created by the 7.8-magnitude quake was estimated at 100,000 square kilometres.

Damage to several dams and rivers posed new threats to some quake-hit towns and villages.

At least 130,000 troops and paramilitary police were sent to earthquake-hit areas, where several towns close to the epicentre were nearly razed.

Dozens of extra helicopters and planes were brought in on Thursday to drop food, clothing and bedding to residents of Sichuan's worst-hit counties of Beichuan and Wenchuan.