MORE than 50,000 people are feared dead in Sichuan Province alone after Monday’s 7.8-magnitude earthquake, the rescue headquarters of the State Council said Thursday.

The confirmed death toll in Sichuan was 19,509 by 4 p.m. Thursday, up by 5,046 from Wednesday’s 14,463, said Sichuan Vice Governor Li Chengyun at a press conference.

Li said 102,103 others were injured.

Premier Wen Jiabao arrived at Guangyuan City in Sichuan on Thursday morning. Wen went to Qingchuan County, one of the worst-hit areas of Guangyuan, by ship to oversee rescue work and visit survivors.

He encouraged local residents to “rise from sorrow, help each other and rebuild homes.”

The Sichuan government has donated more than 670 million yuan (US$95.7 million) for disaster relief efforts.

More than 100,000 Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers and armed police, 1,235 medical teams, local officials and volunteers were racing the clock to rescue survivors.

China is deeply grateful for the messages of support and the earthquake relief aid coming from the international community, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said Thursday.

As of 2 p.m. Thursday, 151 countries and 14 regional or international organizations had offered support in various forms.

The quake-hit areas urgently need tents, quilts, food, medicines and equipment for satellite communications and rescue, Qin said.

The Chinese Government had agreed with the Japanese Government’s proposal to send a professional emergency relief team to the affected areas, Qin said.

Qin said China had expressed gratitude to offers from other countries to send relief teams, and officials were considering the offers according to the situation in the quake-hit areas.

A Japanese rescue team left Narita airport in Tokyo late Thursday afternoon for Sichuan to assist local disaster relief efforts, the first group of foreign aid personnel following the devastating quake.

An international media delegation also left the Beijing Capital International Airport for Sichuan on Thursday.

The delegation includes 20 media organizations such as the Associated Press, Reuters, the New York Times, media groups from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan, and mainland media groups including Xinhua News Agency, China News Service and the China Daily.

(Xinhua)