By Ben Blanchard
DUJIANGYAN, China (Reuters) - The death toll in China'searthquake climbed past 13,000 on Tuesday and looked likely torise much higher after media said some 19,000 people wereburied in rubble in just one area.
Rain and severed roads hampered rescuers in the mountainousarea near the epicentre of Monday's 7.9-magnitude quake in thesouthwestern province of Sichuan, China's worst earthquake inover three decades.
State media reported devastation as troops reached strickenvillages near the epicentre in Wenchuan, a remote county cutoff by landslides about 100 km (60 miles) northwest of theprovincial capital, Chengdu.
Officials announced late on Tuesday that 500 Wenchuanresidents were confirmed dead, the Xinhua news agency reported.But the toll there and elsewhere is likely to soar.
Thirty People's Liberation Army (PLA) troops arrived atWenchuan's Yingxiu township and rescued 300 residents, Xinhuasaid. But only 2,000 were found alive in the town of 12,000,according to a local official.
"They could hear people under the debris calling for helpbut no one could, because there were no professional rescueteams," state television quoted the official He Biao as saying.
About 60,000 people were unaccounted for across Wenchuan.
"What we most need is medicine. There is no medicine, thereare no doctors and after such a long time, no food," He said.
Attempts to find survivors have become a race against timeand bad weather. Premier Wen Jiabao, who has thrown himselfinto the task of running these efforts, told officials not toslacken.
"The disaster situation is worse than expected, and therescue sites are quite complex," Wen said, according to Xinhua.
He ordered 3,000 medical staff to travel to Sichuan.
But official reports have presented a grim litany of risingdeath, suggesting that crumpled homes, schools and factorieswill yield many more bodies than survivors.
In Mianzhu, Sichuan, rescuers said the death toll had risento 3,000. About 500 people were pulled out alive from crushedbuildings. An earlier report said 10,000 people there had beenburied under rubble.
A further 18,645 people were buried under debris inMianyang, a city that also covers much farmland, Xinhua said.
In hard-hit Beichuan County in Mianyang, at least 1,000students and teachers were buried under a seven-storey schoolbuilding, and rows of apartment buildings in the towncollapsed.
Locals told Xinhua that up to 8,000 residents may havedied.
"People escaped from the buildings but were only devouredby the landslides," one survivor, Lei Xiaoying, told Xinhua."There was no way to escape."
Over 320 deaths from the quake have so far been confirmedin provinces apart from Sichuan.
"NOTHING TO EAT"
Officials have said more powerful aftershocks could hit theregion and mudslides may add to the toll.
A strong aftershock rocked Chengdu on Tuesday, one of 2,354in the province over the past day that have unnerved residentsand led many to sleep outside.
More than 50,000 troops joined disaster relief efforts orwere advancing to the area. The Chinese air force said 6,500troops were parachuted into hard-hit areas where rain andclouds had prevented military helicopters from landing.
"Please speed up the shipping of food. The kids havenothing to eat now," Wen said amid crying children.
In Dujiangyan, about midway between Chengdu and theepicentre, bodies lined streets and residents cradledpossessions in front of homes reduced to piles of rubble.
Rescuers worked through the night, pulling bodies fromruined buildings after the earthquake, which rolled fromSichuan across China and was felt as far away as Bangkok andHanoi.
About 900 teenagers were buried under a collapsedthree-storey school building. Frantic relatives tried to pushpast a line of soldiers, desperate for news of their children.
"We're still pulling out people alive, but many, many havedied," said one medical worker.
A group of 31 British tourists visiting the Wolong pandareserve in the quake-hit area have returned safe and uninjuredto the provincial capital, China's Foreign Ministry said.
China said that there had been no reports of foreigncasualties by midday (5 a.m. British time).
The quake was the worst to hit China since the 1976Tangshan tremor in northeastern China where up to 300,000 died.
Analysts said they did not expect serious economic effectsfrom the disaster but supply shortages could fuel inflation,already at a near 12-year high.
The State Administration of Grain ordered local governmentsto ensure grain and cooking oil supplies and price stability.
Offers of aid have come from all over the world, threemonths before the Beijing Olympics.
Olympic officials assured foreigners China was safe. Aminute's silence will start each stop of the domestic torchrelay and celebrations will be scaled down.
(Writing by Chris Buckley; Editing by Nick Macfie andCharles Dick)