China: Magnitude 7 quake toll climbs to over 200 dead

(Vatican Radio) In China's Sichuan province, rescuers have been recovering survivors from the rubble after a devastating earthquake. Regional correspondent Alastair Wanklyn reports:

More than 200 people are known to have died, and medical teams have recorded almost 1,000 serious injuries so far. Alastair Wanklyn reports from Tokyo.

Picking through the debris, rescue workers spent a second day searching for survivors in neighbourhoods where many houses are now just piles of rubble. In Lushan city, the state news agency said rescuers pulled 91 people out alive.

One man whose house collapsed recalled the moment the earthquake struck: "Everything was falling in," he said. "I thought I wouldn't get out. I couldn't see anything because of the ash and smoke. And everywhere I heard people crying out."

Eighteen thousand troops are reported to have been deployed, helping to help clear roads and deliver aid supplies.

The Red Cross is distributing some supplies. One of its volunteers said there is no electricity or water, and she saw survivors begging for water from soldiers.

A Red Cross spokesman said it was proving difficult to get supplies in because roads remain partially blocked and trucks are stuck in traffic jams.

A larger earthquake struck the same area five years ago, killing -- it's thought -- about 90,000 people.

This time, China's government said the rescue operation was in hand and there was no need for assistance from abroad. The foreign ministry thanked those nations that offered to help.