Special report: Strong Earthquake Jolts SW China

    YINGXIU TOWNSHIP, Sichuan, May 14 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers on Wednesday morning arrived at Yingxiu township, one of the worst-hit areas near the epicenter of Monday's earthquake.

    They are engaged in search and rescue work.

    Three Xinhua reporters and a technician traveled with the soldiers and reached the site 44 hours after the quake, and another reporter also arrived by helicopter on Wednesday morning. They were the first journalists on the scene.

    There was not a single building that was not damaged in Yingxiu, said Xu Zhuangzhi, one of the Xinhua reporters.

    The reporters also saw hundreds of people fleeing Yingxiu, who all looked to be on the edge of collapsing because of fear and fatigue.

    An almost 100-meter road bridge was broken and fallen into the Minjiang River.

    Officer Zhi Liusuo told Xinhua that more than 200 soldiers had arrived at Yingxiu by powerboat as of 12 a.m. and another 400 were expected to arrive before it got dark.

    Powerboats were busy bringing soldiers into the town and sending injured villagers out when the reporters arrived.

    The three reporters and technician reached the area after a journey using cars, boats and on foot. During their journey they saw furniture and clothes floating in Zipingpu reservoir, next to the town.

    Repair workers are still 40 km from Yingxiu, said Vice Minister of Transport Feng Zhenglin at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon.

    Premier Wen Jiabao went to Yingxiu by helicopter on Wednesday afternoon to inspect the situation there and then went back to Chengdu.

    A photo sent back by the Xinhua reporters shows a dozen of local people, with their luggage, were waiting anxiously at the river bank where the soldiers' boats landed.

    In another photo, three soldiers, who had helped locals take a boat, distributed life-vests to them. The local people were to be evacuated to safer places.

    In the third photo, soldiers with huge backpacks were trekking through the mountainous region, where long and deep gaps were seen on the ground by the earthquake.

    According to He Biao, deputy secretary-general of the Aba prefectural government, the population of Yingxiu exceeds 10,000.

    Only 2,300 people have been confirmed to be alive, and 1,000 of those have sustained serious injuries.

    "There is an urgent need for medical staff, medicine, food and drinking water," he said.

    The injuries of many people got worse because there were not enough drugs to treat them, said Chen Yi, an official with the Yingxiu township government.