Death toll from Sichuan earthquake rises to 66, with 15 missing and hundreds trapped in national park
- Aftershocks, days of rain and possible landslides threaten rescue operation after 6.8 magnitude quake hit on Monday
- State media reports more than 6,500 rescuers and doctors sent to the scene and helicopters and drones sent to Luding and Shimian counties
Hotel workers at a national park tourist site and staff at a sub-branch of the Chinese Academy of Sciences where an observatory collapsed were among those killed in the disaster.
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Footage shows quick evacuation of Chinese kindergarten amid deadly earthquake in Sichuan
The tremor, which hit at 12.52pm, had its epicentre near a tourist centre in Luding county, about 260km (161 miles) from the provincial capital of Chengdu.
By 2pm on Tuesday, the death toll included 38 people from Garze Tibetan autonomous prefecture and 28 people from Shimian county, Yaan. Some 15 people remained missing.
More than 6,500 rescuers and doctors were sent to the scene, state broadcaster CCTV reported, and four helicopters and two drones were sent to Luding and Shimian counties, two of the hardest-hit areas.
About 50,000 people were relocated and more than 3,400 tents, 12,000 foldable beds and sheets were sent to the area, local authorities said.
