Rescuers race to find survivors after 400 die in China quake

An intense rescue operation was under way in China Monday after an earthquake killed at least 381 people and injured thousands more, leaving scenes of devastation across a mountainous area. More than 12,000 houses collapsed and 30,000 were damaged in the quake zone in the southwestern province of Yunnan, China’s official news agency Xinhua said. Rescuers rushed victims to local hospitals and as dawn broke Monday continued to pick through the rubble of destroyed homes in a desperate search for survivors. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrived in Yunnan on Monday and because of the road conditions had to walk for ‘over three miles’ to reach the worst-hit village, Xinhua said on a verified Twitter account. A total of 7,000 emergency personnel, including 5,000 soldiers, police and firefighters had been mobilised, Xinhua said, and equipment brought to the area included life detection instruments and excavating tools. A total of 381 people had been killed by the tremor, with 1,801 injured, according to China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs, according to AFP.