THE TOWN THAT WAS WIPED OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH

Once it was a thriving little town nestling in one of the most picturesque parts of China.

Now it is the scene of death and utter devastation.

This is Yingxiu in Sichuan province, a town at the epicentre of the massive earthquake which rocked China last Monday.

Government officials say 8,000 of the 10,000 people who lived here have died, most of them crushed as half of the town's buildings fell in on them. Most of those buildings that have not collapsed now teeter at frightening angles, as though ready to tumble too.

The town was a scene of devastation, with virtually every building either demolished or damaged beyond habitation.

he country is struggling to bury its dead and help tens of thousands of injured and an estimated 5million homeless today when a powerful aftershock brought new havoc four days after an earthquake thought to have killed more than 50,000.

President Hu Jintao flew to the battered province of Sichuan and Premier Wen Jiabao said the quake damage could exceed the devastating 1976 tremor in the northeastern city of Tangshan that killed up to 300,000 people.

Wen called on officials to ensure social stability as frustration and exhaustion grew among survivors, many of whom lost everything and were living in tents or in the open air.dailymail