China buries quake dead

By John Ruwitch

BEICHUAN, China (Reuters) - An aftershock brought new havoc to the earthquake-stricken region of China on Friday, as it struggled to bury some of its estimated 50,000 dead, dig out more survivors and help thousands of injured and homeless.

President Hu Jintao flew to the battered province of Sichuan and Premier Wen Jiabao said the quake damage could exceed that of the devastating 1976 tremor in the northeastern city of Tangshan, which killed up to 300,000 people.

Wen called on officials to ensure social stability as frustration and exhaustion grew among survivors, many of whom have lost everything and are living in tents or in the open.

China put the known death toll at just over 22,000 on Friday but has said it expects it to eventually exceed 50,000. About 4.8 million people have lost their homes.

Thousands of men, women and children were heading on foot for Mianyang, a city near the epicentre, saying they were abandoning their ruined villages for good.

Anger has focused on the state of school buildings, many of which crumpled in Monday's 7.9 magnitude quake, burying thousands of children and prompting the Housing Ministry to order an investigation.

Hu and Wen stressed that searching for survivors remained the top priority.

"We cannot talk about giving up too easily," Wen said. "Life should go on. I believe people in the quake area can definitely build their hometowns even better with their own hands. That is also the biggest consolation for the dead."