Hope is beginning to fade for thousands of people still trapped following the massive earthquake in China.
School destroyed in quake
poor building work.

By Chris Buckley DUJIANGYAN, China (Reuters) - Chinese President Hu Jintao urged rescuers in the southwestern province of Sichuan to race to save lives,

By Peter Harmsen in Mianyang WITH survivors still emerging from the rubble today, rescue teams waged an increasingly desperate battle to find victims of

BEIJING (Reuters) - Forty-six seriously injured people needed to be evacuated immediately in Beichuan, at the epicenter of the Sichuan quake, where the water level of a lake is rising rapidly and may burst at any time, Xinhua news agency reported, quoting warnings from soldiers at the site.
China has put the known death toll from Monday's quake at over 22,000 but has said it expects it to exceed 50,000. About 4.8 million people have lost their homes and the days are numbered in which survivors can be found.

By Eugene Tang and William Bi May 17 (Bloomberg) - Chinese President Hu Jintao, in his first visit to the mountainous Sichuan earthquake zone, said rescue workers must ``race against time'' as hope fades for thousands buried in the wreckage of the May 12 disaster.
Hu flew yesterday to Mianyang city, about 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) southwest of Beijing, to talk with soldiers and rescue workers and to console survivors, state-run Xinhua News Agency said. The death toll from the magnitude 7.9 earthquake, the most powerful to hit China in more than half a century, climbed past 22,000 and may reach 50,000 with 169,000 injured, Xinhua reported.
rnor, Li Chengyun, said 27,560 people have been rescued so far.

AP Beichuan, China - Rescuers pulled survivors from the rubble Friday, May 16, who had been buried for four days as a strong aftershock sparked landslides near the epicenter of this week's powerful earthquake.
The first foreign rescue workers since Monday's magnitude 7.9 temblor were allowed to the scene, and helicopters dropped leaflets urging people to "unite together" and providing survival tips. Officials have said the quake's final toll could reach 50,000.
d now an office worker in the eastern city of Tangshan. "I'm just exhausted."

MIANYANG, China (AFP) - Cries for help echoed from under the rubble of shattered communities Friday as China warned time was running out to save survivors of an earthquake that has claimed an estimated 50,000 lives.
The first foreign rescue teams were allowed into the disaster zone to join the frantic -- and increasingly grim -- search for life among the huge mounds of concrete and metal that were once homes, schools and factories.
the disaster, officials in Sichuan said.

Rescuers pulled 33 people alive from the rubble on Friday (local time), four days after a major earthquake struck China. (File photo) (AFP)
A strong aftershock near the epicentre of China's devastating earthquake has triggered landslides that cut off roads and buried vehicles on Friday (local time), state media is reporting.
ake struck the country, and emergency workers are hoping for "more miracles," state media says.

The magnitude 5.5 tremor in the Sichuan region, the latest in a series, further complicates rescue efforts at the epicenter of Monday's earthquake.
By Mark Magnier, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
put the latest death toll at 22,069, nearly 3,000 higher than the day before, though the national government had previously said it expected the figure would eventually reach 50,000. The officials also said there were 14,000 people still buried, 159,000 injured and 4.8 million homeless.

BEICHUAN, China (AP) - Rescuers pulled survivors from the rubble Friday who had been buried for four days as a strong aftershock sparked landslides near the epicenter of this week's powerful earthquake.
The first foreign rescue workers since Monday's magnitude 7.9 temblor were allowed to the scene, and helicopters dropped leaflets urging people to "unite together" and providing survival tips. Officials have said the quake's final toll could reach 50,000.
live," said Xu Tao, one of the volunteers, a demobilized soldier and now an office worker in the eastern city of Tangshan. "I'm just exhausted."

AP BEICHUAN, China: Stunned survivors huddled in makeshift shelters lining the mountain road into one of the remotest corners of China's earthquake zone,

China is mobilising 30000 extra troops and 90 helicopters to help with the rescue operation after Monday's devastating earthquake.