The mega-quake in southwest China's Sichuan province has attracted growing attention of the world, and reporters from several international media organizations have arrived at the site to cover the worst quake that hit China in more than three decades.

To date, journalists from Reuters, NHK (Nippon Hoso Kyokai), NBC (National Broadcasting Company), France 2 TV, ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) and other news group have arrived in Sichuan, local authorities said on Thursday.

A 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Wenchuan County of Sichuan Monday afternoon. The tremors were felt in most parts of the county.

The death toll across the country has risen to 14,866, the latest government statistics show.

Among those, 14,463 were confirmed dead in Sichuan Province, 280 in Gansu Province, 106 in Shaanxi Province, 14 in Chongqing Municipality, two in Henan Province, one in Yunnan Province and one in Hubei Province.

The central government allocated another 250 million yuan (US$35.7 million) in relief for quake-hit areas Wednesday, brining total disaster relief fund from the central budget to 1.11 billion yuan.

Meanwhile, public donations reached have reached 877 million yuan in both cash and goods, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

A total of 47,813 soldiers, armed police and paramilitary personnel have been dispatched for disaster relief work and another 30,000 personnel will be sent to join the rescue efforts, military sources said.

The People's Liberation Army (PLA) have delivered 33.3 tons of disaster relief goods to Wenchuan and neighboring towns.

Another five tons of disaster relief materials were airdropped into Mianzhu City for the first time by an air force transporter Wednesday.

(Xinhua News Agency May 15, 2008)