Residents in a village some 20 kilometres from the epicentre of the
deadliest earthquake to hit China in decades desperately wait for aid
supplies, particularly water.

 VILLAGE NEAR MIANYANG CITY, YUEJIN COUNTY, SICHUAN PROVINCE,
CHINA (MAY 14, 2008) REUTERS -

 In a village some 20 kilometres from the epicentre of Monday's (May
12) earthquake, residents are struggling to cope as blocked roads and rainy
weather mean aid has failed to reach them.
    Over 90 percent of the houses in the village were destroyed when the
earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.9, hit the area and over 50 people were
killed.
    Those who survived were trying to make their way to nearby cities as
food and water supplies were running low.
    With water and electricity cut off since Monday afternoon, residents
were growing more and more desperate.
    As a Reuters news team entered the village, residents rushed to greet
them with buckets and pots, disappointed not to be met with aid workers.
    "Since the earthquake hit, until now, we haven't got any water.
This place has been cut off of water and electricity," said one man who
wished not to be named.
    The residents said local officials had fled the village after the
earthquake struck and rushed to the nearby city of Mianyang. They said only
one official had visited the village briefly since Monday, but had not
returned.
    Dazed and grief-stricken, the locals felt abandoned.
    "No one cares about us. Neither provincial or municipal officials
have visited us, they have left us alone," a local man said.
    The government dispatched 50,000 troops to the southwestern province to
dig for victims as the national death toll climbed past 14,866 on Wednesday
(May 14).
    The death toll is likely to rise steeply after state media said 19,000
were buried in Mianyang area alone and troops continue to struggle to reach
most remote areas.
    Officials have also warned of dangers from increased strain on local
dams, as well as mudslides on the region's brittle hillsides.
    State radio broadcast appeals for people to give food, water,
equipment, and blood, as well as appeals for people to be patient and wait for
aid.
    But with no water or electricity, many in the region can not wait much
longer.