Rain and landslides blocking key roads hampered efforts Monday to rescue tens of thousands of people left homeless by an earthquake that killed at least 398 in south-western China. Many among the estimated 1 million people affected by Sunday's 6.5-magnitude quake in Yunnan province felt hundreds of aftershocks, while landslides had blocked rivers in some areas, bringing the threat of floods, dpa reported. "The blocked roads and the continuous downpour have made some disaster areas inaccessible for the relief vehicles," said Liu Jianhua, the ruling Communist Party's secretary in Zhaotong city, which administers the worst-hit county of Ludian. Three people were reported missing and about 1,800 were injured. About 25,500 homes collapsed and 190,000 were damaged, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said. About 11,000 police and firefighters were joined by more than 7,000 soldiers and thousands of civilian volunteers, reports said. The government said it allocated 600 million yuan (97.3 million dollars) to fund relief operations. Six helicopters were surveying the damage and airlifting some of the most severely injured from Longtoushan town, near the epicenter of the quake that struck at about 4:30 pm (0830 GMT) Sunday. At least 12,000 homes collapsed and 30,000 were damaged in the town and surrounding villages, with a total population of 430,000. Some 230,000 were evacuated after their homes were damaged of left vulnerable to floods and landslides. Power lines were severed and telecommunications services were cut off in many areas, state media said.
