Luding quake toll rises to 82

The death toll from a magnitude 6.8 earthquake that hit Luding county in Ganzi Tibetan autonomous prefecture, Sichuan province, on Monday had risen to 74 by Wednesday.

Forty people were killed in the autonomous prefecture, and the other 34 were in the neighboring city of Ya'an. Thirty-five people remained missing and more than 270 were injured, according to the information office of the Sichuan provincial government on Wednesday.

Nine of the 24 rural roads blocked by the quake in Ganzi and four of nine rural roads blocked in Ya'an had been reopened. To reopen the passage from the Luding county seat to the quake's epicenter at the town of Moxi in Luding, the traffic rescue team used excavators and front loaders. By 4 pm on Tuesday, the road was reopened.

All-out efforts were mounted in the search and rescue operations. As of 8 am on Wednesday, more than 10,000 people, including members of the People's Liberation Army and the People's Armed Police Force, firefighters and nine helicopters, had been sent to the quake zone. Rescue workers were visiting each village and household in the area.