200 armed policemen arrive in Wenchuan county

The disaster relief headquarters of the Chengdu Military Area Command says that a team of about 200 armed policemen has reached the epicenter of the quake. The team now is racing against time to save lives and more troops are expected imminently.

In the latest development of the rescue effort. China is ready to parachute 100 selected soldiers into the epicenter of Wenchuan for disaster relief efforts.

The first contingent of over 200 armed police arrived in Wenchuan county at 11 p.m. on Tuesday. They're the first rescue team to reach the epicenter of Monday's deadly quake.

According to senior police officers, the team immediately started rescue operations on arriving.

They said the team reported that Wenchuan county had suffered severe damage, and that over 500 local residents were confirmed dead. But the policemen reported that the situation there is still better than that of nearby Longxi and Yingxiou townships.

Meanwhile, a senior PLA officer said over 2,000 paratroopers arrived in Shifang city and Mianzhou county on Tuesday afternoon, both badly-hit areas in Sichuan province.

He said rescue operations by soldiers there are underway and that reinforcements are expected to reach the two regions soon.

It's the first time that PLA paratroopers have been sent to carry out rescue work in disaster-relief efforts.

As of Tuesday evening, nearly 20,000 soldiers and armed policemen had arrived in Sichuan province, with 30,000 more troops making their way towards the quake-hit regions by planes, trains and trucks - and on foot.

Meanwhile, 11 military planes were mobilized to send relief personnel to the quake-stricken areas, with 30 flights scheduled on Tuesday alone.

Seventeen medical teams from the PLA had left for the disaster area. The military emergency response office and emergency response mechanism were working around the clock.

On Monday, rescuers were stranded outside Wenchuan as roads were blocked by boulders and rocks following the earthquake.

Over 15,000 military reserves from Sichuan Province, as well as neighboring Gansu and Chongqing, were helping rescue efforts and assisting the armed forces on the ground to clear routes to the epicenter.

China's Central Military Commission has authorized the Chengdu Military Command Area to direct all the rescue efforts by armed forces.