State media: China quake death toll exceeds 19,500; could soar to 50,000

BEIJING — Chinese state media says the death toll has jumped past 19,500 in this week's earthquake in Sichuan Province.

The Sichuan provincial government announced the figure Thursday, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. The figure, up from nearly 15,000 Wednesday, was expected to rise further as rescue workers dug more victims out of collapsed buildings.

China warned the death toll from this week's earthquake could soar to 50,000, while the government issued a public appeal Thursday for rescue equipment as it struggled to cope with the disaster.

More than 72 hours after the quake rattled central China, rescuers appeared to shift from poring through downed buildings for survivors to the grim duty of searching for bodies with 10 million directly affected by Monday's temblor.

In Luoshui town on the road to an industrial zone in Shifang city where two chemical plants collapsed, burying hundreds of people troops used a mechanical shovel to dig a pit on a hilltop to bury the dead.

Police and militia in Dujiangyan pulverized rubble with cranes and backhoes while crews used shovels to pick around larger pieces of debris. On one sidestreet, about a dozen bodies were laid on a sidewalk, while incense sticks placed in a pile of sand sent smoke into the air as a tribute and to dull the stench of death.

The bodies were later lifted onto a flatbed truck, joining some half-dozen corpses. Ambulances sped past, sirens wailing, filled with survivors. Workers asked those left homeless to sign up for temporary housing, although it was unclear where they would live.

Not all hope of finding survivors was lost. After more than three days trapped under debris, a 22-year-old woman was pulled to safety in Dujiangyan. Covered in dust and peering out through a small opening, she was shown waving on state television shortly before being rescued.

"I was confident that you were coming to rescue me. I'm alive. I'm so happy," the unnamed woman said on CCTV.

One earthquake expert said the time for rescues was growing short.

"Generally speaking, anyone buried in an earthquake can survive without water and food for three days," said Gu Linsheng, a researcher with Tsinghua University's Emergency Management Research Center. "After that, it's usually a miracle for anyone to survive."