A powerful aftershock claimed more lives in China's southwest on Sunday, bringing new misery to the region and hampering relief efforts as the death toll from last week's quake shot up, the AFP reported.
China put the confirmed death toll from Monday's quake at 32,477 as the nation battled to help nearly five million homeless people facing the threats of disease and floods after the worst Chinese natural disaster in a generation.
The 6.0-magnitude aftershock on Sunday, which shook some of the worst-affected parts in Sichuan province, killed at least three people in the town of Jiangyou, local government official Liao Boxun told AFP by phone.
People in the town said the aftershock had spread new fears among a population already traumatised by last week's 7.9-magnitude quake.
"When the aftershock hit, mothers hugged their crying children and tried to comfort them, telling them everything would be okay," Dai Yong, who works in Jiangyou where the aftershock was reportedly strongest, told AFP.
The region has suffered at least 24 aftershocks of 5.0 or above on the Richter scale since Monday's quake, amid all-out efforts to rescue more than 9,500 people still buried under the rubble of collapsed structures.
Two more people were pulled to safety Sunday after improbably surviving six days under the chunks of concrete and other debris.
But the pace of such miracle rescues appeared to be slowing after at least 63 more people were rescued Saturday, according to state media.
Officials have estimated the final death toll could eventually top 50,000.
In a bid to help quake survivors, two US military planes packed with food, power generators and other goods flew into Sichuan province, the first aid that China has accepted from foreign armed forces.
President Hu Jintao, on a tour of the disaster zone, offered thanks Saturday for foreigners' help after the earthquake, which struck amid tensions between China and Western nations over Beijing's handling of unrest in Tibet.
Teams from Japan, Russia, Singapore and South Korea, as well as Taiwan and Hong Kong, have been allowed in to help the effort, although offers from elsewhere have been declined.
State television reported rescue crews had gone on heightened alert following the aftershock, fearful that further strong tremors could hurt the teams.
Rain also compounded the misery for many of the estimated 4.8 million who have been left without homes.
Tens of thousands of people huddled in appalling conditions in the town of Maoxian under leaky makeshift rain covers, in dire need of food, medicine and shelter, the Sichuan News Online site reported.
"Due to the rain in Maoxian, the people have gone from one disaster to another," it said, in a report that underlined the huge humanitarian challenge China is facing.
Thousands of people were evacuated in the province on Saturday over fears of floods due to a landslide that had blocked a river.
The World Health Organisation said Saturday that the lack of safe drinking water or proper waste disposal along with cramped conditions in makeshift camps was "conducive" to disease outbreaks.
The military, however, said that nuclear facilities in the region had been checked for signs of any damage and were confirmed safe.
"I can say in a responsible manner that all these facilities are safe and secure," senior military officer Ma Jian told a news conference.
Relief workers by Saturday had finally restored land connections with the worst-hit counties of Beichuan and Wenchuan, allowing the full horror of the quake to begin to emerge.
Luo Hong, a 22-year-old woman who sells beer, learned that her 55-year-old father, Luo Zaiping, was killed at the coal mine where he worked.
"He worked hard his entire life. Originally he wasn't supposed to work Monday and then this happened," she said.
The official People's Daily newspaper urged a nationwide "battle" against the disaster amid a rush by ordinary Chinese to volunteer.
"More than ever, people are aware that to win the battle against the devastating earthquake requires the contribution of the whole country," the communist party's flagship newspaper said in a commentary.