(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-06-24 22:15

BEIJING  -- Vice-Premier Hui Liangyu said on Tuesday that the death toll from the May 12 earthquake in southwestern China is expected to exceed 80,000.

Hui's statement was the first official acknowledgement that many of those still listed as missing might have perished.

The death toll stood at 69,181 as of noon on Monday, with 374,171 injured and 18,498 listed as missing, Hui said in a report on relief and reconstruction at the opening of the third session of the Standing Committee of the 11th National People's Congress.

"Quite a large number of those missing may have died," he said.

"The May 12 earthquake in Wenchuan County was the most destructive earthquake, one that affected the widest area and one posing the biggest challenge to rescue operations, since the founding of the People's Republic of China" in 1949, he said.

He admitted that the disaster-relief work had been arduous.

Hui said the earthquake affected 417 counties, 4,656 townships and 47,789 villages, with a total disaster zone of 440,000 square kilometers.

The number of people affected was 46.24 million.

Since the main quake, 13,685 aftershocks had been detected, with five measuring above 6.0 on the Richter scale, 28 ranging from 5.0-5.9 and 189 from 4.0-4.9.

He said the relief work was difficult because most of the worst-hit areas were in the mountains or deep valleys. The destruction of roads and communication links also prevented rescue staff and facilities from getting into the quake zone quickly.

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