Jiegu: President Hu Jintao has flown to China's devastated earthquake zone as the flow of rescue supplies picked up pace.
Hu flew from Beijing on Sunday after cutting short an official trip to South America to deal with the disaster that killed nearly 1,500 people in a remote mountainous region.
Residents could be seen at makeshift sidewalk stores buying food. The Ministry of Commerce said it was sending 30 modified vans that will become mobile stores.
Zou Ming, head of the disaster relief at the Ministry of Civil Affairs said the death toll stood at 1,484 people. He said another 312 people were still missing as of Saturday evening.
Zou told a news conference in Beijing most of the survivors of the earthquake were living in tents and had basic food and clean water.
