A staggering 160 people have been killed and over 6,700 injured in the earthquake, which hit China's Sichuan province Saturday morning, measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale, reported Xinhua citing authorities.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visited the temblor's epicentre in the province during afternoon by helicopter and directed not to waste time to save lives.
Li visited hospitals, tents and climbed on a heap of ruin to see the disaster situation, expressed condolences to the victims and the survivors, and guided the rescue and relief work on site.
After learning that many roads to the epicentre Lushan county of Ya'an city were damaged and communications were cut off, Li took a helicopter to go there in a bid to save time shortly after he arrived at Qionglai airport in the southwestern province.