Day 4 May 15 2008 Thursday

Death Toll: 19,509
Rescue Toll: 10,503
Injury Toll: 13,436
Rescue force: 120,000
Number of aftershocks: 4,432

The crucial 72 hours reached

Today would have been three days without food or water for those still trapped within the collapsed. Experts say the chances for survival after this window diminishes.

Research and previous cases like the 1995 Kobe earthquake shows that survival rates decrease significantly after 72 hours of a crisis, due to the lack of food and water.

A request was made for doctors who are able to trek more than five hours to reach some remote villages where thousands are believed trapped and many more injured. An appeal was launched and within hours, more than 200 people, including doctors, have set out independently medical supplies.

The Chinese satellite monitoring station in Xi'an announces that it is switching the operating mode of 9 existing satellites to provide imaging, updates and communication capabilities for the affected regions.

Road access to the epicentre county seat of Wenchuan and Beichuan town has finally been re-established.

A ten-year-old boy is pulled out from beneath his collapsed primary school building in Beichuan county, after being trapped for 75 hours, after rescuers heard weak cries for help from the rubble. Ten medical workers finally managed to resuscitate him and stabilize his breathing but he may lose his right leg because it had been trapped for too long and had begun to rot. His right arm has also been fractured in many locations. His father is still looking for his missing mother.

Taiwan has obtained permission for direct flights to Chongqing to help with the evacuation of around 1,000 of its people. Previously, all flights between China and Taiwan had to transit through a third location, usually Hong Kong or Japan. Permission to land at Chengdu's congested airport was not available.

Beijing designates another 1.17 billion yuan (US$ 168 million) for rescue efforts, raising total to 34.1 billion ( close to US$ 5 billion) yuan. - Xinhua

Air Macau provides free delivery of 20 tonnes of relief supplies to Chengdu from the Special Administrative Region, including much needed convenience foods, milk powder, warm clothing and surgical equipment.

A group of 20 firemen and relief medical workers from Hong Kong have begun work in affected areas, bringing with them much professional emergency equipment.

VIDEO OF THE DAY*

A footage showing rescuers in an operation to save a girl trapped under the rubble as her brother watched on helplessly. The actual process begins at 1:09 and ends with the rescuers singing her a birthday song.





* Video was inserted after the post.