After an earthquake like that which happened in Ya'an in Sichuan, pulling the injured from the rubble within the first 72 hours is known as the golden time, but various problems are piling up to slow rescue efforts and are helping this golden time ebb away.  Besides Lushan county, the epicenter of the earthquake, Baoxing county was also hit. 26 people from the county are dead and over 2,500 are injured, with 86 in critical condition as of Sunday afternoon.

Premier Li Keqiang flew into the area on Saturday afternoon to oversee the situation. He encouraged rescuers to maximize their efforts and pledged to patients that the government would take on all their medical costs and make the best treatment available to them.

Li asked all households to check that no injured people were left behind in stricken areas.

He said that the only way to proceed is to ensure that damage assessments, rescue conditions and casualties were all reported on time.

By April 20, 7,500 soldiers have been flown in to help with rescue efforts but, if needed, 10,000 more soldiers can be tapped. 

Further tragedies have been piling up since on Saturday afternoon, a vehicle carrying 17 soldiers fell into a river from a mountainous road while on the way to hit areas.

The incident left two soldiers dead and three critically injured. 

At the border of Lushan and Xingjing counties, another military vehicle fell off the mountain cliffs, leaving casualties and injuries unknown tilll 4 pm of Sunday, according to media report.

Some rescuers then walked to Baoxing on foot after the county had become isolated due to the interruption of communication and transportation. Difficulties remain as the road is still blocked, and large rescue vehicles cannot enter the area.

About 500 rescuers are blocked a kilometer away from the county as of Sunday afternoon.

Ensuring that rescue channels are clear and effective is critical after such natural disasters. Considering the mountainous conditions, narrow roads, and rain always threatening landslides, keeping roads open is even more important.

Sichuan authorities have ordered that all roads leading to the area are kept clear of traffic, except for rescue vehicles.

Tremors were felt widely, hitting the cities of Chengdu and Leshan in Sichuan, as well as the municipality of Chongqing and areas of the provinces of Gansu, Shaanxi, Yunnan and Guizhou.

This earthquake awakened horrors buried deep since 2008 when Wenchuan in Sichuan Province was torn apart by a 8.0-magnitude earthquake, leaving over 69,000 people dead or missing. 

Global Times