Chinese president flies to earthquake-hit area to view destructions

Chinese President Hu Jintao said rescue efforts from this week's powerful earthquake entered their "most crucial" phase Friday, as the country braced for a death toll expected to rise above 50,000.

	Chinese president flies to earthquake-hit area to view destructions
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Hu flew into the disaster area in central China to view the devastation and massive relief operation that included more than 130,000 troops. Four days after the quake hit, Chinese soldiers and police also finally reached all of the isolated mountain counties and townships at the epicenter that had been most damaged, state media said.

Public criticism grew over the many children among the official death toll of 19,509, who were in class Monday afternoon during the magnitude 7.9 quake.

Education and housing officials took the rare move of taking questions online from angry Chinese citizens. The government said it would investigate why so many school buildings collapsed - destroying about 6,900 classrooms, not including the hardest-hit counties - and severely punish anyone responsible for shoddy construction.

But even a day past what experts say is the critical three-day window for finding buried earthquake survivors alive, rescuers pulled a student trapped for 80 hours from a school in Beichuan area and said they could hear weak cries for help from more.

The Earthquake and Disaster Relief Headquarters of the State Council, the country's Cabinet, has said total deaths could rise above 50,000. Tens of thousands could still be buried in collapsed buildings in Sichuan province, where the quake was centered, the province's vice governor told reporters.

"The challenge is still severe, the task is still arduous and the time is pressing," Hu was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency. "Quake relief work has entered into the most crucial phase. We must make every effort, race against time and overcome all difficulties to achieve the final victory of the relief efforts."

In Mianzhu, close to where Hu arrived, seven fallen schools buried 1,700 people, Xinhua said, and about 1,300 bodies had been recovered so far.

Weak signs of life were detected in five places amid the rubble of Dongqi Middle School in Mianzhu, Xinhua reported, and troops were continuing rescue work at the school where 100 students were missing.

In the same area, 700 students were thought to have been buried in a school in Hanwang town. Further north in Beichuan, 360 students were rescued from the ruins of a school, but another 700 were still buried.

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