On Monday, rescuers saved four people alive from rubble, although one of them later died. Sichuan's Party chief Liu Qibao said on Monday about 9,500 people remained under debris of leveled buildings. Experts warn that the chances of survival decrease greatly after three days.
A Chinese author Qian Gang, who spent 10 years interviewing survivors of the 1976 Tangshan earthquake in northern Hebei Province, said it was possible that people could live after being buried for more than eight days if they had the will to survive. He cited the case of an elderly woman who drank her own urine to sustain her for 13 days until rescuers pulled her out of the debris.
Although chances for survival are getting remote, rescuers and people whose family members are missing are still clinging to fading hopes.
In Beichuan Middle School, a woman sobbed in a hoarse voice that "I have an intuition that my brother is still alive."
Amid continuous aftershocks, rescue operations are proceeding, and dead bodies are promptly disposed of to prevent epidemic.
The Chinese health, police and civil affairs authorities said police and medical workers will keep record of the unidentified bodies and collect body tissues for DNA tests. The police will manage the DNA database for future identification.
Rescuers disinfected and took photos of the bodies before burying them. A brigadier from the Jinan Military Area Command said the photos will be collected and sent to local civil affairs office for reference.
"We took 30 cameras with us when we came for the rescue," said Tang Yanfeng, a brigadier leading rescue work in the Pengzhou City, one of the worst-hit areas in the earthquake.
"Some people may never have a chance to see the bodies of their families, and we hope it'll be a comfort to those if they could see their last photos," he added.
The earthquake death toll was 40,075 as of 6:00 p.m. Tuesday, according to the earthquake relief headquarters of the State Council, China's Cabinet, and 247,645 people were injured.
(Xinhua News Agency May 20, 2008)