Racing against the clock in shattered town

BEICHUAN, Sichuan: What remains of Beichuan County convulsed once again yesterday when the latest of 3,000 aftershocks cruelly struck at 12:54 pm, three days after Monday's initial devastation.

Amid the ruins of once lively streets, where rescue workers, soldiers and armed police officers raced the clock to save survivors trapped amid smoking debris, everyone stayed put during the tremor.

Paul Schuster, a Canadian medical worker with Heart to Heart International's office in Chengdu, waited with bated breath for local rescuers to signal from the rescue site.