(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-05-13 03:57

Premier Wen Jiabao talks through an amplifier to people trapped in a collapsed hospital building in Dujiangyan, Sichuan Province May 12, 2008. In Sichuan Province, at least 8,533 have died in the quake, with the epicenter in Wenchuan county. [Xinhua]

BEIJING -- Saving lives is the top priority of work at this point of time, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said late Monday when directing rescue work of a major earthquake that rocked southwest China's Sichuan Province and neighboring areas.

Wen was in the City of Dujiangyan, about 100 kilometers from the epicenter Wenchuan County.

"Every single second could mean the life of a person trapped by the earthquake. The top priority of our work now is to save as many people as possible," Wen said on a work meeting of a temporary headquarters for disaster relief headed by himself.

Most disaster relief teams are still blocked in the city of Dujiangyan, as the roads linking Wenchuan and the provincial capital Chengdu were damaged during the earthquake.

"Road access to Wenchuan County, which is key to our disaster relief work, must be made at all cost. Water and power supplies and telecommunication in quake-hit areas should be restored as soon as possible," the premier demanded.

He ordered the country's Health Ministry to provide sufficient ambulances and medical supplies, and urged relevant departments to allocate tents to provide shelter for the affected people.

"Party and government officials at all levels must stand on the front line to organize disaster relief," he said.

The quake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale jolted Wenchuan County at 2:28 p.m. Monday, resulting in more than 8,500 deaths so far in Sichuan alone.

Tremors were also reported in over half of China's provinces and municipalities, the China Seismological Bureau said.