China on Monday deployed thousands of soldiers, police and firefighters to Yunnan province devastated by the worst earthquake in 100 years that killed nearly 400 people and wrecked havoc in the quake-prone mountainous region.
The death toll from Sunday’s earthquake stood at 398 with some people still missing.
Authorities sent 11,000 police and firefighters, over 7,000 soldiers and armed police as rescuers raced to save more people caught under the mountains of rubble. Eight planes and several helicopters have also been rushed to the site to carry supplies and ferry the wounded to hospitals as troops poured into the remote areas badly hit by the shallow quake. Premier li Keqiang too rushed to the area in southwestern China to supervise the operations asking troops to focus on saving lives.