Rescue teams finally arrived at the epicentre of China’s devastating earthquake last night and began searching for survivors in the ruins of buildings under which thousands of people are feared to have been buried.
The national death toll from the quake has climbed past 13,000 and is likely to rise steeply after media said 19,000 people were buried in rubble in just one area of Sichuan.
Tens of thousands of troops mobilised to lead the search and rescue effort were hampered in attempts to reach the worst-hit areas by torrential rain and the sheer scale of the damage.
Al Jazeera correspondent Melissa Chan reports from Sichuan on the rescue efforts following China’s deadly earthquake: