Quake death toll to reach 50,000

The Ministry of Information website added that 100 cranes were desperately needed and that more than 130,000 soldiers and police had joined the relief operation.

The confirmed death toll has reached 19,509, up from the nearly 15,000 confirmed dead the day before, according to the earthquake and disaster relief headquarters of the State Council.

"This is only a beginning of this battle and a long way lies ahead of us," said Vice Health Minister Gao Qiang.

"We will never give up hope. For every thread of hope, our efforts will increase 100-fold. We will never give up."

Plans for the Defence Ministry to deploy 101 more helicopters underscored worries that the death toll will skyrocket, as time runs out for buried survivors.

Nearly 26,000 people remain trapped in collapsed buildings. But an expert warned that the time for rescues was growing short.

"Within 72 hours after the disaster is the critical period. Generally, the sooner the rescue of the buried, the better," said Shijiazhuang Bureau of Seismology chief engineer Liang Guiping.

Forty-four counties and districts in Sichuan were severely hit, with about half of the 20 million people living there directly-affected.

No outbreaks of disease have yet struck refugees, who are being immunised against some illnesses, and aid workers are seeking to ensure the safety of drinking water and removing corpses to prevent the spread of bacteria.

Dujiangyan city was clogged with buses and lorries packed with aid to the disaster area.

Public donations so far have totalled 1.3 billion yuan (£60 million) in cash and goods.

China accepted an offer from Japan to send a rescue team and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies issued an emergency appeal for medical help, food, water and tents.

Federation disaster management director Gu Qinghui visited Beichuan county near the epicentre and said that more than 4 million homes were shattered across the quake area.

"The whole county has been destroyed. Basically there is no Beichuan county any more," Mr Gu said in Beijing.