Cargo train derails in Gansu after earthquake

A cargo train derailed and caught on fire on Monday night in northwest China's Gansu Province after the rail was distorted by landslide caused by the Sichuan earthquake, an official said Tuesday morning.

The 40-carriage train, carrying 13 petrol tanks, derailed in Huixian County, Gansu Province, along the Baoji-Chengdu line. The locomotive caught fire first, then the 13 oil tanks buried by rocks were also ablaze, said a spokesman with the Longnan municipal government.

The line was closed after the accident.

The train's two drivers were injured and have been sent to hospital. More than 900 people living nearby were evacuated.

The train was still burning at 5 a.m. Tuesday and the oil tanks were likely to explode, forcing the withdrawal of fire fighters to six kilometers away.

No report of deaths of foreigners in Sichuan earthquake

There was no report that foreigners were killed or injured in southwest China's Sichuan earthquake, a Sichuan government official said on Tuesday morning.

A spokesman of the Sichuan Provincial Foreign Affairs Office told Xinhua at 7:15 a.m. that they had not received such report from various parts of the province, including the tourist attractions of Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong.

However, China Wolong Giant Panda Protection and Research Center, which is in the worst quake-hit area and home to some 130 pandas, was out of contact as all telecommunications services were cut. The casualties and damages there were unknown yet, the spokesman added.

The death toll from Monday's strong earthquake has climbed to 9,219, according to the latest figure given by the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

At least 157 killed in two cities of Gansu

At least 157 people have been killed in two cities near the epicenter of a strong earthquake that struck southwest China Monday, local authorities said on Tuesday.

Some 150 people were left dead and 738 others injured in the Longnan City, northwest China's Gansu Province, said a spokesman with the city government.

The 7.8-magnitude earthquake rocked Wenchuan County in southwest China's Sichuan Province at 2:28 p.m. Monday. More than 1,000 aftershocks have been recorded.

The quake was strongly felt in Longnan, about 240 km northeast of Wenchuan.

Xinhua reporters saw hundreds of people, including citizens and farmers, spent Monday night in the open air, daring not go home.

Patients from the Longnan Municipal No. 1 People's Hospital were evacuated and being treated in makeshift tents on the streets because large cracks had appeared in the building of the hospital.

"Stampede accidents have been reported in some schools in Longnan," said Zhang Lixin, a press official of Longnan City of Gansu. He did not provide details about the casualties.

In the neighboring Tianshui City, seven people have been killed and 29 others injured, vice mayor Guo Qiruo said.

"The exact number of casualties is still being counted," he said.

Currently, the latest number of casualties in Gansu is not available.

In Sichuan, nearly 10,000 people were feared dead.

The powerful tremor was also strongly felt in many other parts of the country, including Beijing, Shanghai and Tibet.

In regions neighboring Sichuan, 85 were killed in Shaanxi Province, 50 in Chongqing Municipality, one in Yunnan Province and one in Henan Province.

The quake was the worst to strike China since the Tangshan earthquake in north China's Hebei Province in 1976, which claimed 242,000 lives.