10 weeks 2 days 1 hour ago Nearly 10,000 dead after earthquake in China

CHENGDU, China (AP) - State media reports that the death toll
from a powerful earthquake in central China has climbed to nearly
10,000 in the worst-hit province.

The 7.9-magnitude quake Monday devastated a region of small
cities and towns in an area of Sichuan province north of the
capital of Chengdu.

The official Xinhua News Agency said about 600 people died in
Shifang city, which was the site of a major chemical leak. The
report did not say whether people were killed by the quake or the
chemical leak.

Xinhua said as many as 2,300 people in the city are still buried
under rubble, including more than 900 students.

Landslides have blocked roads into the hardest-hit areas, and
rescue workers were headed there on foot.