A Dongfang Electric plant in the city of Deyang, about 100 km away from the quake epicenter of Wenchuan county, counts as one of the worst-hit cases in the disaster so far.

More than 100 bodies were found at the plant by yesterday afternoon, Dongfang Electric spokeswoman Lan Fang told China Daily by phone yesterday.

Deyang itself has reported about 3,000 deaths from the quake.

"In our plant in Deyang, several buildings collapsed, burying hundreds of people," Lan said.

An affiliated school and hospital of the plant have collapsed, claiming an unconfirmed number of lives, she said.

A six-story dormitory also collapsed, burying many workers, Lan said.

"The earthquake hit the whole of the plant heavily, what's more, many after-shocks have added to the damage," Lan said.

"When the quake struck, many people were working in the buildings, and a large number of them were buried."

It was difficult to predict the economic losses sustained by the plant, Lan said.

Lan is now in the provincial capital of Chengdu busy arranging for relief supplies to be sent to the Dongfang disaster site.

The workers in the plant have started their own rescue operations, she said.

Premier Wen Jiabao also came to the plant yesterday, saying that the government will try its best to rescue the workers.

The company has many plants located around Chengdu. Lan said other plants of the company have not been similarly damaged by the quake.

Hundreds of people have also been reported buried at two collapsed chemical plants in the Shifang area in Deyang.

More than 80 tons of toxic liquid ammonia have also leaked from the site, media reported.

According to PetroChina and Sinopec, the country's two leading oil and chemical companies, none of their large oil refinery or chemical projects in the region were seriously affected by the earthquake.

(China Daily May 14, 2008)