Drinking water urgently needed in quake zone

YA'AN, Sichuan - Quake survivors in southwest China's Sichuan province are in urgent need of drinking water as they wait to be evacuated more than 37 hours after the earthquake occurred.

A Xinhua reporter said she saw residents waiting anxiously for relief goods alongside the main road linking Taiping township, a serious affected area, and Lushan county.

Earthquake Strikes Ya'an, Sichuan

Several children carried a board written with "Five hundred people lack drinking water," and held it up high whenever there were people coming towards them.

In the remote Wangjia village that is ten kilometers from Lushan county, river water became too muddy to drink after the earthquake.

Thirsty residents queued for mineral water dished out by Chen Guangbiao, a high-profile Chinese philanthropist, on Sunday morning. Many of them attempted to take an extra portion.

Sichuan Red Cross estimated that drinking water in Ya'an City will run out within three days despite rescue workers' efforts in delivering supplies to quake-hit area.

The quake survivors also need food and shelter.

"I had no food for a whole day," said a resident in the Wangjia Village, Longmen township.

"Dozens of people in my family are packed in one tent," said Cheng Yuelin. His house was badly damaged in the quake and food and quilts were all buried under the ruins.