Rain hampers rescuers as China quake toll nears 10,000

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"How could they survive that-" she asked.

Rescuers had worked frantically through the night, pulling bodies from homes, schools, factories and hospitals demolished by the quake, which rolled from Sichuan across much of China.

In the same city, about 900 teenagers were buried under a collapsed three-storey school building. Premier Wen bowed three times in grief before some of the first 50 bodies pulled out, Xinhua reported.

"Not one minute can be wasted," said Wen, a trained geologist. "One minute, one second could mean a child's life."

Frantic relatives tried to push past a line of soldiers surrounding the school, desperate for news of their children.

"We're still pulling out people alive, but many, many have died," said one medical worker.

At a second school in Dujiangyan, fewer than 100 of 420 students survived, Xinhua reported.

The initial tremor, which the U.S. Geological Survey upgraded to magnitude 7.9 from 7.8, was followed by a series of aftershocks, which shook the area through the night.

"Some are still very strong," said a Dujiangyan resident. "We have put up tents outside to sleep in."

A group of about 15 British tourists were out of reach near the epicentre, likely in Wolong, Xinhua reported. China said that there had been no reports of foreign casualties as of midday (0400 GMT).

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