Troops, Xinhua staff arrive at worst-hit township at epicenter

YINGXIU TOWNSHIP, Sichuan, May 14 (Xinhua) -- More than 200 Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers arrived at Yingxiu township, one of the worst-hit areas near the epicenter of Monday's earthquake that killed more than 12,000 people, at 11:50 a.m. Wednesday.

They are engaged in search and rescue work.

Three Xinhua reporters and a technician traveled with the soldiers and reached the site 44 hours after the quake, and another reporter also arrived by helicopter on Wednesday morning. They were the first journalists on the scene.

Officer Zhi Liusuo told Xinhua that more than 200 soldiers had arrived at Yingxiu by powerboat as of 12 a.m. and another 400 were expect to arrive before it got dark.

Powerboats were busy bringing soldiers into the town and sending injured villagers out when the reporters arrived.

The three reporters and technician reached the area after a journey using cars, boats and on foot. During their journey they saw furniture and clothes floating in Zipingpu reservoir, next to the town.

A photo sent back by the reporters shows a dozen of local people, with their luggage, were waiting anxiously at the river bank where the soldiers' boats landed.

In another photo, three soldiers, who had helped locals take a boat, distributed life-vests to them. The local people were to be evacuated to safer places.

In the third photo, soldiers with huge backpacks were trekking through the mountainous region, where long and deep gaps were seen on the ground by the earthquake.

According to He Biao, deputy secretary-general of the Aba prefectural government, the population of Yingxiu exceeds 10,000.

Only 2,300 people have been confirmed to be alive, and 1,000 of those have sustained serious injuries.

"There is an urgent need for medical staff, medicine, food and drinking water," he said.

The injuries of many people got worse because there were not enough drugs to treat them, said Chen Yi, an official with the Yingxiu township government.