Beijing: More rescue teams including military doctors and soldiers are reaching central China's Sichuan province, which was hit by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake on the Richter scale.
The US Geological Survey has already recorded as many as 30 aftershocks of magnitude four and above.
China's official news agency Xinhua reports that rain and mudslides have blocked roads and rescue teams are yet to reach the epicenter.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao ordered the military to open the roads by mid-day Tuesday.
A Chinese official using a satellite phone reports that about a third of all buildings in Sichuan have collapsed.
At least six schools were reduced to rubble in the quake or its aftershocks.
At one school, almost 900 eighth graders and ninth graders are still believed to be buried.
Eight excavators were working at the site and devastated parents watched as the cranes pulled out bodies.
The area is also the habitat of China's panda population.
Xinhua reports the fate of pandas housed at the Wolong Giant Panda Protection and Research Center is unknown.
The Chinese government has said the death toll is sure to rise as authorities began reaching some of the worst-hit areas.
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