The land connecting Maoxian to Wenchuan was also said to be destroyed in the earthquake and suspended from traffic at the moment.

Tibetan-Qiang Autonomous Prefectural Government of Aba on Tuesday reported that more than 1,000 rescuers the prefectural government dispatched from Barkam, the prefectural seat of Aba, were also stranded on the way to Wenchuan because of impassable roads. Some of the rescuers who insisted in walking over to Wenchuan were also lost contact.

Wenchuan, 159 km northwest of the Sichuan provincial capital of Chengdu, has a population of 105,436. It has plenty of high mountains with an average height of 3,000 m above the sea level.

And about 60,000 people living in areas of Wenchuan, including Yingxiu, Sanjiang and Xuankou townships, as well as Wolong special administrative zone remained out of reach following the earthquake, according to He Biao, deputy secretary-general of the Aba government.

(Xinhua News Agency May 13, 2008)