China Earthquake Death Toll Tops 55,000

The official death toll from the Chinese earthquake has risen to more than 55,000.

The toll in Sichuan, the hardest-hit province, rose to 55,239, with 24,949 people missing, according to the province's vice-governor.

Up to 1,000 people are believed to have died in other provinces.

Thousands of survivors in Sichuan are being evacuated amid fears that aftershocks could unblock dammed rivers and unleash flooding. About 5 million people have been left homeless in the province.

The earthquake is the biggest disaster for the world's children in seven years, according to Save the Children.

The charity said 3 million babies, infants and teenagers were among the worst affected by the 7.9 magnitude quake that struck the south-western Chinese province on May 12. More than 10,000 were killed when their schools collapsed, or were buried beneath landslides; at least 4,727 others were orphaned.

"Three million children have been forced to leave their homes, many of who have been separated from their parents and carers," said Wyndham James, Save the Children's director in China. "We worry that, with the efficiency of the government's rescue operation, the public may not recognize the sheer scale and long-term effects of the disaster."

The charity, which is appealing for $5m (£2.5m) to deal with the crisis, said the impact on children was the worst since the Gujarat earthquake of 2001.

Amid a national outpouring of grief and sympathy, many people have offered to adopt quake orphans. Ji Li, an academic at Wuhan University, filled in an online application to become a foster parent on a discussion forum. "I hadn't thought about adopting a child before," she said, "but maybe I can help someone."

She and other volunteer foster parents expect to wait at least a month for an answer. The government has urged patience, saying it must first check whether children have surviving relatives - a difficult process, given the devastation and disruption of communications.

"Only when the government is sure of their identities and that they have no relatives will they be put up for adoption," said Li Bo, deputy chief at the ministry of civil affairs.

In the short term, the government's priority is providing shelter for the homeless.

"We need more than 3.3m tents," said a foreign ministry spokesman, Qin Gang, renewing an international appeal from the Chinese government. So far, 400,000 tents have been delivered.

With three days of mourning over and no discoveries of survivors for more than 24 hours, the focus is switching to reconstruction. The government has earmarked 70bn yuan (£5.1bn) for the operation, which will start with the erection of 1m temporary houses for refugees.

In the longer term, the worst-hit towns will be rebuilt from scratch in new, safer locations.