Information from quake epicenter remains patchy

With the nation in shock from the steadily rising death toll, information from the epicenter of Wenchuan remains scarce, although a main road from Lixian county to Wenchuan was cleared last night.

As People's Liberation Army (PLA) troops stream into the county by foot, boat and helicopter after local officials trekked in two days ago, reports of casualties are beginning to trickle out.

Wenchuan was home to more than 100,000 people before the Monday's earthquake. The 4,084-sq-km county has six large towns and seven smaller ones.