Three giant pandas missing after China quake

Beijing: Three giant pandas are missing after last week's massive earthquake hit China's most important reserve for the endangered animal, state media said on Sunday.

It was the first report about the fate of pandas raised at the Wolong research and breeding centre, just 30 kilometres from the epicentre of Monday's quake.

The 7.9 magnitude quake killed five staff at the Wolong Nature Reserve and seriously damaged all of its panda houses, the official news agency Xinhua said.

"The first batch of bamboo, apples, and veterinary medicine for the pandas, as well as food and the tents urgently needed by the staff, arrived at the Wolong Reserve on Saturday night," a State Forestry Administration spokesman was quoted as saying.

Aftershocks are still rattling Sichuan province six days after the main quake, which killed at least 32,000 people and injured a further 220,000.