Xinhua has released new statistics of earthquake casualties as of Friday at noon, including a rising death toll that now stands at 68,858:
Another 366,586 people were counted as injured and 18,618 were still listed as missing.
The office said that 45.55 million people were affected by the quake, of whom 15.15 million had been relocated.
Hospitals had treated 88,617 injured survivors as of Friday noon, of whom 58,356 had been discharged, 13,828 were still being treated and 8,668 had been transferred outside of Sichuan Province for further treatment.
