China quake wipes out 80 per cent population of single town

An Xian: China's official Xinhua news agency reported that the quake wiped out nearly 80 per cent of the population of the town of Yingxiu alone, where 7,700 people have died.

Government officials said rescuers who hiked into the Wenchuan county town on Wednesday found it "much worse than expected." Only 2,300 people had survived, and 1,000 of them were badly hurt.

The official toll from the earthquake has now risen to almost 15,000, Xinhua said.

If these figures have not been counted in the reported death toll, the actual figure may stand as high as 20,000. It could continue to rise even higher as rescuers have still not reached other towns in Wenchuan, Xinhua said.

Survivors are in desperate need of medical attention, food and water, the report said. "desperately needed medical help, food and water."

The highway linking Wenchuan county to Dujiangyan city was still cut off Wednesday, nearly 48 hours after the quake.

A fleet of military helicopters was seen flying north over Dujiangyan, and food, drinking water and medicine was being airdropped in Yingxiu.