>>>沪江汶川地震专题 

CHENGDU - Teams that have attempted to reach Wenchuan, epicenter of a powerful earthquake that claimed lives of nearly 10,000 people in Sichuan Province and adjacent regions so far, via land, air and water were thwarted.

An official with Sichuan Provincial Headquarters for Earthquake Control and Relief Efforts cited interrupted transport and telecom to the epicenter, alongside bad rainy weather as the key factors to hold back efforts to access the epicenter.

"The efforts to reach Wenchuan will by no means be stopped," said the official.

An earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale jolted Wenchuan County in Tibetan-Qiang Autonomous Prefecture of Aba, Sichuan Province, at 2:28 p.m. Monday, leveling some 500,000 rooms in the affected areas and leaving 9,219 people dead, confirmed the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

The strong quake was felt in 25 Chinese provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, including Taiwan.  But at the moment, the deaths were mainly found in the worst-affected regions such as Gansu, Shaanxi, Chongqing, Yunnan, Shanxi, Guizhou, Hubei, in addition to Sichuan.

The roads to enter Wenchuan from Dujianyan City were fully cut and it is very difficult to repair them for the time being, so armed police officers were arranged to reach Wenchuan by riding two speedboats via a local reservoir at about 4 a.m. on Tuesday, but they were never heard from ever since.

In the meantime, the provincial headquarters originally planned to send a working group to reach Wenchuan by first taking a flight in Chengdu, the provincial capital, to an airport in Songpan, a county in Aba, and then resorting to the land connecting Wenchuan through Maoxian, also inside Aba.

"The plan could not be materialized as the plane could not take off because of poor rainy weather in Chengdu and Aba," said the official.

The land connecting Maoxian to Wenchuan was said to be destroyed in the earthquake and suspended from traffic at the moment.

Tibetan-Qiang Autonomous Prefectural Government of Aba on Tuesday reported that more than 1,000 rescuers the prefectural government dispatched from Ma'erkang, the seat of Aba, were stranded on the way to Wenchuan because of impassable roads. Some of the rescuers who insisted in walking over to Wenchuan were also lost contact.

About 60,000 people in three townships and Wolong special administrative zone in Wenchuan county, the epicenter of the strong earthquake, remained out of reach by Tuesday morning, according to He Biao, deputy secretary-general of the Aba government.

新华网北京5月13日电 (记者黎云)记者从军队处置突发事件领导小组办公室了解到，截至13日6时30分，解放军和武警部队投入抗震救灾的兵力已达16760人，其中军队11760人，武警5000人。13日还将计划使用20架军用飞机输送兵力至灾区。

济南、成都军区和空军的34000多人，正在采取空中、铁路和摩托化机动的方式，多路向灾区开进。其中，成都军区驻云南某集团军2824人已经于13日3时铁路起运，济南军区的1个师、2个旅正在组织铁路输送，目前第一梯队已经装载完毕，计划8时20分出发。驻湖北空降某军出动6420人，目前起降场已经准备完毕，第一架次已经于6点20分起飞。13日空军计划动用20架伊尔—76型和运八型军用运输机，开足马力将部队空运至成都双流机场和绵阳机场。

由军队人员、武警总医院医护人员和地震救援专家共同组成的国家地震灾害紧急救援队227人，携带12条搜救犬、两台指挥车及部分装备、药品物资，已于13日0时50分到达都江堰，在都江堰中医院和聚源镇中学两个最严重的受灾地点展开救援行动。

由于通往汶川的道路一直处于中断，依靠机械化和摩托化输送无法到达，部队连夜组织徒步开进。目前，成都军区某集团军炮兵团副参谋长带领20人侦察分队，已经徒步开进至汶川，正在了解灾情。

>>>沪江汶川地震专题