MORE than 30,000 people were missing or out of reach in the quake-hit Shifang City in Sichuan Province on Thursday, according to the local government.

    Twelve teachers and 447 students were among the dead. Another 147 teachers and 2,673 students were injured, according to a statement posted on the government Web site (www.shifang.gov.cn).

    Meanwhile, 238 more students were buried in the rubble and 147 were missing, the statement said. Seven school buildings in the mountains had collapsed, it said.

    In addition, more than 10,000 people were injured, and the total loss was estimated at about 40 billion yuan (US$5.7 billion), it said.

    “The death toll is still rising,” it said.

    A local press official surnamed Zou told Xinhua that power and transport had been restored in most parts of the city, except in three townships.

    “But we are in great need of medical workers and equipment,” he said.

    He revealed that some 1,000 miners in small towns were among the missing.

    “We still have no news of them,” he said.

    Shifang came under focus when the earthquake destroyed two chemical plants in Yinghua and caused the leakage of 80 tons of ammonia, forcing more than 6,000 people to evacuate.

    But Zou said the leak had been capped, and no one had died because of it.(Xinhua)