China intensifies quake rescue but hopes dim

DUJIANGYAN, China (Reuters) - China ordered fresh waves ofhelicopters and aid into earthquake-devastated areas as severedroads, aftershocks and the sheer magnitude of 15,000 or moredead defied increasingly desperate rescue efforts.

The Communist Party leadership ordered officials to "ensuresocial stability" as Monday's 7.9 magnitude quake in southwestSichuan province spawned rumours of chemical spills, fears ofdam bursts and torrid scenes of collective grief.

Early on Thursday, the official estimated death toll fromthe Monday quake stood at nearly 14,463, unchanged from theprevious day. In all, about 10 million people have beendirectly affected by the quake, according to the Xinhua newsagency.

But as rescuers pick through towns turned to rubble inWenchuan and other counties nearest the earthquake's epicentre,the toll of missing -- and probably dead -- is likely toballoon.

"In one minute the city we know flew away. I never dreamtit could happen," said He Lixia, a kindergarten teacher inDujiangyan, where many residents slept outdoors, fearful ofmore quakes and building collapses.

"My father and mother are dead. My son was crushed underhis school. My wife's office has collapsed and her phone is notworking," said a man wandering outside one encampment there.

In Shifang, another small Sichuan city that also coversmany villages, 30,000 of some 430,000 residents were missing orout of contact, local officials told Xinhua.

The ruling Chinese Communist Party's Standing Committee metlate on Wednesday to assess the calamity that has thrown a darkshadow over preparations for the Beijing Olympics in August.

The meeting ordered fresh waves of soldiers andparatroopers to help, and the government announced 90 morehelicopters -- in addition to 20 already deployed -- will tryto reach areas where buckled roads have frustrated rescuers,state media reported.

"As long as there is a glimmer of hope, spare no efforts inrescuing," the Party leadership ordered, according to Xinhua."Ensure social stability in the disaster zone."

But now, into the fourth day since the 7.9 magnitude quake,hopes of pulling many survivors from crumpled schools, homesand factories appear increasingly dim.

A paramilitary officer who arrived at Wenchuan, at theepicentre, told Sichuan TV that a third of houses there hadbeen destroyed and more than 90 percent damaged.

Officials have also warned of dangers from increased strainon local dams as well as mudslides on brittle hillsides whererain has been forecast over the next few days.

Landslides had blocked the flow of two rivers in northernQingchuan county, forming a huge lake in a region where 1,000have already died and 700 are buried, Xinhua said.

"The rising water could cause the mountains to collapse. Wedesperately need geological experts to carry out tests and fixa rescue plan," Xinhua quoted Li Hao, the county's CommunistParty chief, as saying.

Premier Wen Jiabao, a geologist himself, has criss-crossedthe disaster zone and made emotional appeals to workers andcomfort orphaned children.

"To be responsible to the people, be responsible tohistory, we must do rescue organisation work at this crucialmoment," he said late on Wednesday, according to Xinhua.

The quake was the worst to hit China since 1976 when up to300,000 died. Leading disaster modelling firm AIR Worldwidesaid the cost of the quake was likely to exceed $20 billion.

(Writing by Chris Buckley; Editing by David Fox)