救援人员争分夺秒搜救幸存者

Rescue workers are racing against time looking for survivors of the deadly earthquake in southwest China's Yunnan province. Nearly 400 people have been confirmed dead.

CRI's Su Yi has more.

Rescuers used their bare hands to dig out a woman who had been buried under debris in a village in Longtoushan, at the epicentre of the quake in Ludian County.

Li Hao is a doctor on the site.

"We suspect she might have abdominal bleeding, but there appears to be no external bleeding. It's inside her stomach and we can't see any blood on the outside. Her blood pressure is very low, so low that there's no external bleeding."

Some 12,000 homes collapsed when the quake struck on Sunday afternoon in Ludian, about 370 kilometers northeast of Yunnan's capital, Kunming.

Local resident Chen Zehu, who survived the earthquake, described how he was nearly buried by the rubble of his home.　

"On the first tremor, (everything) shook seven or eight times. Our first thought was that it was an earthquake and we all ran out. The house collapsed almost as soon as we got out."

Around 11,000 police and 7,000 soldiers have been rushed to the quake-hit area.

The rescuers are racing against time to find survivors. The first 72 hours after an earthquake are considered to be the best period for saving lives.

The optimum rescue period will end on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, quake-triggered landslides and continuous downpours have blocked roads to the worst-hit areas, making it difficult to transport injured residents and relief materials.

"When the earthquake struck, all these big rocks fell down and blocked the road. There was no way we could break through them with heavy equipment. We have to use explosives to open up a path for rescue services."

The Air Force has already sent two cargo planes to the area and more helicopters are expected to join the rescue work today.

Telecommunication and power are being restored in the quake-hit zone.

Rivers and streams have been blocked by quake debris, forming lakes that threaten nearby counties. Residents in Jiangbian village have evacuated as water levels continue to rise in a new lake which has already inundated 20 houses.

Local authorities have warned about secondary disasters including landslides and blockage lakes in the rainy season.

Thundershowers and downpours are forecast in Ludian over the next few days, and temperatures are expected to drop to 17 degrees at night.

So far 460 aftershocks have been recorded in the quake region.

The earthquake is the strongest one to hit Yunnan in 14 years.

For CRI, I'm Su Yi.