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"The situation in Yingxiu is even worse than expected," said an official on duty in the Aba government, citing the three vice governors.
The official said the vice governors treked into Yingxiu after many hardships and several close brushes with death.
Rocks were still rolling down from the mountains on Wednesday. The highway linking Yingxiu and Dujiangyan City was totally paralyzed and a bridge on the highway had collapsed, hampering the arrival of rescuers.
He said he had managed to contact the vice governors at 7 a.m. on Wednesday but the phone went dead as they were speaking.
In a nearby town, Shuimo, with 20,000 people, roads and bridges were severely damaged and rescue teams had not arrived. Shuimo was also in need of food, medicine and water.
Hundreds of soldiers entered Wenchuan County on Tuesday and had pulled more than 1,000 people from collapsed buildings by nightfall, according to the disaster relief headquarters of the Chengdu Military Area Command.
On Wednesday morning, two helicopters with relief supplies flew over Yingxiu Town and three more were awaiting orders at the Fenghuanshang airport, according to the Chengdu Military Command.
If weather conditions permit, the five helicopters will fly to Wenchuan County to air-drop relief supplies.
President Hu Jintao had ordered all-out efforts to help those affected by the major earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale that jolted Yingxiu County . And Premier Wen Jiabao went the area to direct the rescue work in personally.
More information from:http://www.tcmadvisory.com/2008/5-15/20085159373.html
