Chinese president Hu Jintao flew to China's remote and ruined Yushu county to speed relief distribution today, as Tibetan monks prayed over victims of an earthquake in the northwest that killed at least 1,706 people.
"Saving life remains the first priority. We treasure every life and at the same time we should ensure victims regain a normal life," Mr Hu told Phoenix TV before visiting a classroom at a local orphanage.
Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama yesterday asked Beijing if he could also visit the site to comfort victims.
The official Xinhua news agency reported earlier on Sunday a 68-year-old man had been rescued alive after 100 hours under the rubble but later withdrew the report. It gave no further details.
Hundreds of military trucks, joined by convoys organised by private aid groups, rolled across the 1,000 km (620 miles) from the provincial capital to Gyegu, the Yushu county seat where survivors are increasingly desperate for food and shelter.
They queued for food and fuel, clutching bowls or jerry cans. Mr Hu visited the damaged Zhaxi Datong village outside Gyegu, Xinhua said. He cut short a South American trip to fly there.
In Tuanjie village, outside Gyegu, relief workers distributed blankets at the local monastery but said the high altitude is limiting their ability to fly in food.
"We have never had such a big earthquake before so this is completely unexpected for us and we were not prepared," said He Zhanlu, team leader for aid distribution in the village. "To add to this, aid from all over the country is coming to us now, so traffic conditions on the road is a logistical problem."
Some non-government organisations have set up distribution centres outside Gyegu to stop looting and fights over food.
"The security situation is calm. So far there are no big criminal incidents," Ministry of Public Security spokesman Wu Heping said, warning against fraudulent earthquake charities.
Tibetan monks have congregated from across the Tibetan plateau to help with relief work and to chant over the dead in the devoutly Buddhist region. They estimated they cremated more than 1,000 bodies on a grassy hillside outside Gyegu yesterday.
Family members brought more wrapped bodies to hundreds of chanting monks today. The sheer number has forced them to choose cremation over traditional "sky burials", in which vultures eat the dead.
While China is unlikely to allow a visit by the Dalai Lama, who fled to India in 1959 after a failed uprising, Beijing appears to be slowly recognising the importance of the Buddhist response in this traditional Tibetan area.
Xinhua said the Beijing-backed Panchen Lama sent a donation and message to Tibetans in Yushu via the United Front, an arm of the Communist Party designed to reach out to non-Communists and other ethnic groups.
Reuters