China intensifies quake rescue but hopes dim

By Emma Graham-Harrison

DUJIANGYAN, China (Reuters) - China ordered fresh waves of helicopters and aid into earthquake-devastated areas as severed roads, aftershocks and the sheer magnitude of 15,000 or more dead defied increasingly desperate rescue efforts.

The Communist Party leadership ordered officials to "ensure social stability" as Monday's 7.9 magnitude quake in southwest Sichuan province spawned rumours of chemical spills, fears of dam bursts and torrid scenes of collective grief.

Early on Thursday, the official estimated death toll from the Monday quake stood at nearly 14,463, unchanged from the previous day. In all, about 10 million people have been directly affected by the quake, according to the Xinhua news agency.

But as rescuers pick through towns turned to rubble in Wenchuan and other counties nearest the earthquake's epicentre, the toll of missing -- and probably dead -- is likely to balloon.

"In one minute the city we know flew away. I never dreamt it could happen," said He Lixia, a kindergarten teacher in Dujiangyan, where many residents slept outdoors, fearful of more quakes and building collapses.

"My father and mother are dead. My son was crushed under his school. My wife's office has collapsed and her phone is not working," said a man wandering outside one encampment there.

In Shifang, another small Sichuan city that also covers many villages, 30,000 of some 430,000 residents were missing or out of contact, local officials told Xinhua.

The ruling Chinese Communist Party's Standing Committee met late on Wednesday to assess the calamity that has thrown a dark shadow over preparations for the Beijing Olympics in August.