Across Sichuan province, residents struggled in the aftermath of Monday's 7.8-magnitude quake even as rescue operations pushed on for those still buried by debris.

In the Xinjian Primary School of Dujiangyan, where as many as 500 students were in class when the disaster struck, armed police and soldiers continued searching for survivors by digging in rubble.

Outside the school gate, red-eyed parents were heard murmuring their children's names. With his own hands, a man surnamed Xie dug out two children from the debris at midnight, while his own son, fourth-grader Lingfeng, was still missing.

A photo on news portal Xinhuanet showed students sitting under makeshift shelters at the neighboring Juyuan Middle School, while the bodies of some victims lay covered in plastic sheets at the front.

A woman surnamed Wu posted her diary on the Internet, in which she depicted the rescue scene at that school.

"It is already 2 am and under bright lights, rescuers are busy searching," she said.

"At the other side was dim candlelight provided by parents ... the air smelled of blood and the ground was stained red.

"When each body was carried out, parents hurried to identify them ... They could only identify them by the color of socks or the length of nails, as some victims' faces were made unidentifiable."

Efforts of rescuers elsewhere paid off when a survivor was seen being pulled out.

Qingqing, who had been buried in debris for 20 hours, saw light again.

The girl from a primary school in Mianzhu was buried with more than 300 teachers and schoolmates. After coming out, her first wish was for water. Rescuers could offer her only a small bottle lid's worth, for fear of suspected internal injuries.

The scene at other quake-hit areas was similarly tragic.

In Chengdu, more than 4 million residents spent the night in parks, squares and streets, afraid to return home. Some were seen lying on newspapers, blankets and plastic sheets.

In Dujiangyan, quake victim Fang Guiyou was seeking refuge with six relatives in a makeshift shelter. They had not eaten anything in a day.

"But what we need most urgently is a tent," Fang said.

(Xinhua News Agency May 14, 2008)