Half the epicentre town of Yingxiu, where corpses are lined along the river, has been flattened and 90 percent of the buildings remaining look unsafe.

Zhang Yuejiao, 18, ran out of her school as it collapsed. Some of the biggest casualties appear to have come from school buildings across Sichuan, a province as big as France.

"We have been waiting to try to find out what happened to my brother," she said calmly. "His school collapsed and we haven't been able to find him."

Helicopters arrived every 15 minutes to take the injured away and soldiers had walked in 40 km (24 miles) to help.

Premier Wen Jiabao, a geologist himself, said the rescue operation and disaster relief for victims of the quake were the country's top priority, Xinhua news agency reported.

Wen, who has toured the disaster zone urging on workers and comforting orphaned children, said the government would stick to its "people-first policy", the agency said.

"Saving lives is still our top priority, as long as hope of survival still exists," Wen said.

The Communist Party told officials to "ensure social stability" as the quake spawned rumours of chemical spills, fears of dam bursts and scenes of collective desperation.

Xinhua said 17 "malicious rumourmongers" had been punished for spreading "false information, sensational statements and sapping public confidence".

State media warned of rising risk of disease from unburied bodies and primitive sewage facilities, while calling for faster distribution of food, water, clothing and tents.

Rescuers in the city of Dujiangyan wrapped corpses dragged from the rubble in tarpaulins and sped them to mortuaries.

They were so busy that a notice outside one collapsed school asked parents to search for children at the mortuary in shifts.

About 130,000 army and paramilitary troops assisted the search and rescue effort in Sichuan, sifting through dozens of towns turned to rubble. Xinhua reported that a team of Japanese rescuers had arrived in Chengdu, part of an outpouring of international aid.

HOPES DIMMING

But three days after the quake, hopes of pulling survivors from the ruins dimmed and the waves of rescuers appear to be hampered by lack of specialised equipment.

Still, there were moments of joy and relief. "Thank you, thank you," one 22-year-old said after she was eventually pulled to safety, covering her face against the light in Dujiangyan. She had been trapped, unable to move, under the ruins of a hospital.

A teenage girl told Xinhua how she and her classmates sang pop songs together as they lay trapped and injured in the ruins of their high school.

A teenage girl was freed from the rubble of her school at the cost of an amputated leg, and a 3-year-old girl was rescued after being shielded from the rubble by her dead parents.

Tourists from Britain, the United States and France were airlifted from a panda reserve, but 893 foreigners are still trapped. Victims include a German, the Foreign Ministry said.

The strain from tens of thousands of homeless was growing.

"There is enough food but not enough water. We have only had bottled mineral water the past few days, nothing to cook with," said Wang Yujie, a teacher whose school withstood the quake.

More aid was arriving and efforts at coordination were also improving, with Sichuan setting up a hotline for victims and ambulances with Beijing licence plates on the roads.

More than 12.5 tonnes of relief goods had been airdropped and scores of helicopters were flying in rescuers and aid.