Troops, police mobilized to worst-hit areas

More than 50,000 military and police personnel have been mobilized for relief operations following the 7.8-magnitude quake that hit Sichuan province on Monday.

About 20,000 People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers and armed police had arrived in disaster-hit areas by yesterday evening, with about 30,000 reinforcements on the way by land or air, the information department of the Ministry of National Defense has said.

Troops yesterday traveled by foot into Wenchuan county, the epicenter of the quake, as most roads and bridges had been destroyed. The air force also canceled parachuting troops to Wenchuan because of heavy rain in the area.