Updated: 2008-05-15 04:56

China's death toll from a massive earthquake soared by thousands Wednesday as troops rushed to a dam feared critically damaged.

A heavily pregnant Zhang Xiaoyan is pulled alive from an apartment which collapsed in Dujiangyan.

The Ministry of Water Resources warned that an irrigation system and Dujiangyan City -- which has a population of about 630,000 -- "would be swamped," if major problems emerged at the dam, China.org said.

Late Wednesday, Xinhua reported the Zipingpu Dam was stable and safe after investigation

The Zipingpu dam, upriver from Dujiangyan in Sichuan province, was in "great danger," the Xinhua news agency reported earlier.

China.org said that the 7.8-magnitude earthquake had caused "severe cracks" in the dam.

The "plant and associated buildings have collapsed and some are partly sunk," it said of the hydropower station.

Xinhua earlier reported that the death toll had risen to 14,866.

Xinhua also said nearly 26,000 people were still buried under debris and another 14,000 missing. More than 64,000 people sustained injuries.

Rescuers announced a piece of good news Wednesday, hailing the rescue of an eight-months pregnant woman as a "miracle," AP reported.

Zhang Xiaoyan spent 50 hours trapped in debris after an apartment building collapsed in Dujiangyan.

Meanwhile, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao was touring some of the worst-hit areas, according to the Xinhua news agency.

He visited a stadium in the city of Mianyang, which has become a massive camp for survivors streaming from their destroyed homes.

Thousands of people uprooted around the region are taking shelter in downtown Mianyang's main sports gym and other facilities converted into rescue centers.

The government has transported homeless people from other areas to the city center because the sports gym is a safe and huge facility.

Men, women and children -- numbed and overwhelmed by the sudden tragedy -- are huddled in the huge stadium as truckloads of aid and private donations, such as water, food and clothes, roll in.

Chinese companies, such as TV set-maker Changhong, located in Mianyang, are helping the refugees, Xinhua news agency reports. Some companies are ordering their staffers to cook for the homeless and have provided supplies, such as batteries and flashlights.

"Time is life," said Wen, who is heading up China's relief effort.

Local officials said the quake killed more than 7,700 people in the town of Yingxiu -- about three-quarters of the population, according to Xinhua. Watch children being pulled from the rubble »

Yingxiu is in Sichuan province, where 20,000 Chinese soldiers have been mobilized for rescue and recovery, state media reported. Another 30,000 were en route to the region -- many using rail lines that are also transporting supplies.

"The top priority for the railway network in China is to deliver disaster-relief troops, personnel and goods to the affected area as soon as possible," said Wang Yongping, spokesman for the Ministry of Railways. He said many passenger trains would be diverted to ferry troops.