Firefighters rescue 93 quake survivors

BEIJING, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Firefighters have pulled out 93 people from collapsed structures, including 91 survivors, as of 7:40 p.m Saturday, the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) said.

A 7.0-magnitude earthquake rocked the Lushan county of Ya'an City in southwest China's Sichuan Province Saturday morning. A total of 157 people had been killed and more than 5,700 injured in the earthquake as of 9:00 p.m Saturday.

More than 2,600 people have been evacuated to safety, sources with the ministry said.

Over 6,000 policemen or firefighters were mobilized to the disaster-hit area for search and rescue, according to the ministry.

As the night fell, rescue teams seized the opportunity of reduced noise environment in the quake area and began using audio, video and radar life-detection equipments, as well as sniffer dogs to search for survivors, the ministry said.

Firefighters in the Chongqing municipality are rushing to the epicenter, and firefighters from nearby provinces are on stand-by to help rescue effort.

Guo Shengkun, minister of the MPS, has urged the firefighters to try their best to minimize the death toll and losses caused by the quake.

The minister also asked to maintain public order in the disaster-hit area and ensure social stability.