The number of people killed by the Chinese earthquake reached 760

Relief goods arrived in the earthquake area in northwest China, while the number of people killed was determined to be 760.

Despite the cold cut and lack of oxygen, lifeguards are still working hard all night. They use their bare hands to dig up the ruins of collapsed schools in the magnitude 6.9 earthquake that occurred in Thanh Hai province on April 14.

A baby was rescued after the earthquake in Qinghai.Photo: Reuters.

Local officials said relief and medicine, tents were on their way to the worst-hit area. The town of Jiegu is about 800 km from Qingning's capital of Xining and 4,000 m above sea level. Therefore, rescue workers from other areas come to help face the lack of oxygen. Participating dogs find survivors also have problems because they are not used to the height.

The earthquake and a series of strong aftershocks then made the road system badly damaged. Landslide has made the route from Jiegu to the airport blocked. Power supply, water supply and communication system were also interrupted.

Thousands of survivors must spend the second night outdoors, in the weather at 0 degrees C. Officials say about 100,000 people have lost their homes.

"I lost my husband and lost my home," Gandan, a resident of Jiegu town, told AFP. Next to her is her daughter and son. Both parents are staying in a nomadic tent with many others. "We don't know what to do now, we don't have anything to eat," she said while standing near the collapsed earthen house.

"There were 10 people in my family and only 4 people escaped. A relative died, others were still buried under the rubble," Samdrup Gyatso, 17, told after the two-story house of he collapsed.

The Chinese national news agency said 760 people died at the end of yesterday, with more than 11,000 injured. The number of casualties is expected to increase as 243 people are still trapped in the rubble.

According to Xinhua, among those killed there are 66 students and 10 teachers. Previously, people were concerned that casualties in schools would be large because it was the most concentrated place.

Xu Mei, a Chinese Ministry of Education spokesman, dismissed information that about 200 students were buried in an elementary school.

Chinese President Hu Jintao shortened his visit to Latin America and Premier Wen Jiabao postponed his trip to Southeast Asia. Wen visited the earthquake area yesterday.

Soldiers, police, firefighters used shovels, iron bars and bare hands to dig up stacks of mortar and concrete from more than 15,000 collapsed houses.

"The situation here is really bad. The damage is terrible. Only a few houses are still standing. The body is everywhere" , Pierre Deve, who works for a Chinese humanitarian organization in Jiegu, said.

According to relief organizations, the top priority at this time is to provide shelter, medicine, food, and drinking water to survivors and ensure hygiene to prevent outbreaks.