By Lucy Hornby
CHENGDU, China (Reuters) - China raised the number of deador missing from a devastating earthquake to more than 70,000 onTuesday, as rescuers found more survivors eight days after thehuge tremor hit.
A government statement said the number killed had nowtopped 40,000, and state news agency Xinhua reported that afurther 32,000 were missing.
Authorities had previously said they expected the finaldeath toll to exceed 50,000. More than 247,000 were injured.
Anger was building among bereaved parents in Sichuan overthe way many school buildings had collapsed, burying wholeclassrooms full of children. In one town, in a rare publicprotest, hundreds demanded punishment for anyone guilty ofshoddy construction.
Xinhua reported a 60-year-old woman was rescued inPengzhou, more than 196 hours after the May 12 quake struck. Itsaid she had survived on rainwater.
In Wenchuan county, epicentre of the quake in mountainousSichuan province, Ma Yuanjiang, 31, was found alive. His bodywas "as fragile as that of a newborn baby", Chongqing Xinqiaohospital president Wang Weidong said, according to Xinhua.
Rescuers also pulled about 10 people off a mountain nearShifang town where they had been building an electricitygeneration station when the quake struck.
Li Tengchang, 38, said 40 of his colleagues had been killedby falling boulders, and that others were still alive on themountain.
"When the wait wore on, we thought no one would come saveus and we would probably die," said Li, who was being treatedfor kidney damage. "I survived purely on my will. I told myselfI had to live and I had to survive. I have a 60-year-oldmother, a wife and two young children."
Meanwhile, nearly 9,000 people were evacuated from the baseof Shiziliang Mountain near Guangyuan city over concerns abouthuge cracks on its slopes. And Beichuan, one the of the worsthit towns, was closed off after official warnings of freshtremors.
AFTERSHOCK CONCERN
In the provincial capital of Chengdu, tens of thousands ofpeople were preparing to sleep another night in the open,despite pleas by authorities for calm after a televisionprediction of another powerful earthquake.
That report, along with fresh aftershocks and forecastheavy rain, compounded the difficulties for military,government and private workers trying to ensure millions ofhomeless are fed and housed.
Hundreds of aftershocks have been felt over the past week,bringing down more buildings and causing landslides.
The quake warning also prompted panic in neighbouringChongqing municipality and Guizhou province.
But there was no sign of panic, just quiet resignation thatmore aftershocks were inevitable as darkness fell over Chengdu.
"Last night the predicted aftershock didn't happen," saidWang Jun, as she set up a tent in the city. "Anyway it's niceroutside, it's better for your health."
ANGER OVER SCHOOLS
The most lamented victims of the quake have been thethousands of children who died when school buildings collapsed.
In Juyuan town, hundreds of grieving parents demanded anannual memorial day for their children, punishment of officialsor builders responsible for shoddy schools and compensation.
"How come all the houses didn't fall down, but the schooldid? And how come that happened in so many places?" demandedZhao, whose two daughters were crushed to death.
"We want a memorial day for the children, but we also wantcriminal prosecution of those responsible, no matter who theyare."
As China's ruling Communist Party seeks to maintain astaunch front of unity and stability after the quake, theincipient protests by parents could be troublesome, for many ofthem blame official graft and laxity, more than nature, for thedeaths.
State media quoted a military source as saying rescuers hadreached all the villages and towns in Sichuan province byTuesday evening.
Whole towns have been flattened in mountainous areas northand west of Chengdu, and about 5 million people are homeless,prompting the government to seek foreign help in the form oftents.
The quake has prompted a huge outpouring of public sympathyboth at home and abroad, with 13.9 billion yuan (1 billionpounds) raised to date.
(Writing by Jeremy Laurence; Editing by Roger Crabb andAlex Richardson)
