EYEWITNESS: RESCUE IN BEICHUAN !

By Michael Bristow - BBC News, Beichuan, China

The city centre of Beichuan was devastated by the quake.
The force of the earthquake that hit China's Sichuan Province can be seen in what remains of the town of Beichuan.
Other towns and villages have been badly hit but Beichuan has been wiped off the map.
The town lay in a narrow valley between high, forested mountains.
And when the earthquake struck, rocks and boulders tumbled down on to the town below.
Walking through the streets, you can see the damage is so bad that it is difficult to image what Beichuan looked like before disaster struck.
The town has been churned up - a car sits on top of a pile of rubble, 50m (165ft) high.
The roof of a market has collapsed and fruit and vegetables lie rotting on the floor.
And everywhere there are reminders that just a few days ago this was a thriving small town.
Washing is still hanging on the balconies of destroyed apartment blocks and a child's textbooks lie scattered on the floor.

A quick look reveals that this young pupil - in the fifth grade in China - was good at maths but not so good at English.
A massive relief effort has been launched in Beichuan, with the road leading into the town clogged with vehicles. Some are delivering aid, others rescue-workers and medical staff.
Along the road, temporary medical facilities have been set up in tents.
Rescuers make their way into the town.
Walking in the opposite direction are survivors, clutching what belongings they can manage.
Some of the old and the young are being carried out on the backs of soldiers.
Still searching
Four days after the earthquake struck, rescuers in the town are still searching for - and finding - people alive.
Eight children were pulled from a collapsed school in the town by elated rescue-workers.
But many are asking why so many schools fell down in the first place.
Another survivor was pulled out of what was once the offices of a power company, several hours after rescuers heard her cries.
It was a painstaking job to free her, with workmen arguing about the best way to do it.
Eventually, they dug away the final pieces of rubble - and a woman was carefully lifted out and rushed on a stretcher to a nearby doctor.
Shielding her eyes from the daylight she had not seen in four days, she was able to tell the doctor where it hurt. He gave her a drink of water.
She was then rushed away in an ambulance. This woman was lucky, thousands more in Beichuan were not.

BBC NEWS REPORT