JIEGU, China (AP) -- Rescue teams fought gusty winds and altitude sickness Thursday as survivors faced a second night outside in freezing weather after strong earthquakes left more than 600 dead and 9,000 hurt in a mountainous Tibetan area of western China. Rescuers, tired from the high winds and thin oxygen, pulled survivors and more bodies from the pulverized remains of the town flattened by Wednesday morning's quake, the largest of which was magnitude 6.9. About 15,000 houses have collapsed.
"We've seen too many bodies and now they're trying to deal with them. The bodies are piled up like a hill. You can see bodies with broken arms and legs and it breaks your heart," said Dawa Cairen, a Tibetan who works for the Christian group the Amity Foundation and was helping in rescue efforts. "You can see a lot of blood. It's flowing like a river."
Just after dusk, about 20 Buddhist monks in burgundy robes and their friends sat by a pile of smoldering rubble where the Jieji temple used to be. Next to them lay the body of a middle-aged monk, covered in a blanket wrapped by an elastic cord with his foot sticking out. Four other bodies were in a nearby car. (23 images)
"We've seen too many bodies and now they're trying to deal with them. The bodies are piled up like a hill. You can see bodies with broken arms and legs and it breaks your heart," said Dawa Cairen, a Tibetan who works for the Christian group the Amity Foundation and was helping in rescue efforts. "You can see a lot of blood. It's flowing like a river."
Just after dusk, about 20 Buddhist monks in burgundy robes and their friends sat by a pile of smoldering rubble where the Jieji temple used to be. Next to them lay the body of a middle-aged monk, covered in a blanket wrapped by an elastic cord with his foot sticking out. Four other bodies were in a nearby car. (23 images)
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People stand on the debris of a collapsed building, while rescuers work in the earthquake-hit town of Jiegu, Yushu, in west China's Qinghai province, Thursday, April 15. Rescue teams fought gusty winds and altitude sickness Thursday as survivors faced a second night outside in freezing weather after strong earthquakes left hundreds of people dead and thousands hurt in a mountainous Tibetan area of western China. AP / Alexander F. Yuan
Rescuers search for survivors in the ruins after an earthquake at Jiegu township in Yushu county, western China's Qinghai province on Wednesday, April 14. Soldiers and civilians used shovels and their bare hands to dig through collapsed buildings in search of survivors after strong earthquakes struck a mountainous Tibetan region of China on Wednesday, killing hundreds of people. AP
Injured survivors take refuge at Yushu airport waiting for medical attention and transfer after an earthquake in Yushu county in western China's Qinghai province Thursday, April 15. China poured rescue crews and equipment into a mountainous Tibetan region Thursday in a bid to find survivors more than a day after strong earthquakes killed hundreds of people and injured thousands. AP
An injured survivor with a paramedic tag waits for medical treatment at a gymnasium after an earthquake in Yushu county, western China's Qinghai province, Thursday, April 15. AP
In this photo released by China's Xinhua news agency, soldiers of the Chinese People's Liberation Army carry a survivor rescued after strong earthquakes in Yushu County, northwest China's Qinghai Province, Wednesday, April 14. AP / Wang Qiang
In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, an injured woman is rescued after a quake in Yushu County, northwest China's Qinghai Province, Wednesday, April 14. A series of strong earthquakes struck a mountainous Tibetan area of western China on Wednesday, killing hundreds of people and injuring more than 10,000 as houses made of mud and wood collapsed, officials said. AP / Ren Xiaogang
Rescuers search for survivors who are buried in the rubble of a collapsed building on April 15, after a 6.9-magnitude earthquake hit Yushu county in northwest China's Qinghai province on April 14. AFP / Getty Images
Surviving residents make their way along rubble on April 15, after a 6.9-magnitude earthquake hit Yushu county in northwest China's Qinghai province on April 14. AFP / Getty Images
Residents search for survivors who are buried in the rubble on April 15, after a 6.9-magnitude earthquake hit Yushu county, in northwest China's Qinghai province on April 14. AFP / Getty Images
Residents search for survivors who are buried in the rubble on April 15, after a 6.9-magnitude earthquake hit Yushu county, in northwest China's Qinghai province on April 14. AFP / Getty Images
A Tibetan monk makes his way along rubble as he joins in soldiers to search for survivors on April 15, after a 6.9-magnitude earthquake hit Yushu county, in northwest China's Qinghai province on April 14. AFP / Getty Images
A survivor carries an injured man to a safer place along a street a after a 6.9-magnitude earthquake hit Yushu county, in northwest China's Qinghai province on April 14. AFP / Getty Images
A survivor takes care of his injured wife beside the rubble of collaped houses after a 6.9-magnitude earthquake hit Yushu county, in northwest China's Qinghai province on April 14. AFP / Getty Images
Chinese firefighters carry a survivor who was found in the rubbles on April 15, after a 6.9-magnitude earthquake hit Yushu county, in northwest China's Qinghai province on April 14. AFP / Getty Images
A firefighter searches for survivors who are buried in rubble on April 15, after a 6.9-magnitude earthquake hit Yushu county, in northwest China's Qinghai province on April 14. AFP / Getty Images
Exhausted Chinese rescuers rest beside rubble after a 6.9-magnitude earthquake hit Yushu county, in northwest China's Qinghai province on April 15. AFP / Getty Images
This photo taken on April 15, shows the rubble of a collapsed building after a 6.9-magnitude earthquake hit Yushu county in northwest China's Qinghai province on April 14. AFP / Getty Images
A recently rescued woman is carried up a hillside to her home amid the earthquake debris in Jiegu, Yushu County, in northwest China's Qinghai province on April 15. Rescuers and aid supplies began slowly rolling into this remote area of northwest China flattened by the devastating April 14 earthquake. AFP / Getty Images / Frederic J. Brown
Jiegu resident, Ganden, points through a hole amid the rubble of her flattened home explaining where she was when the quake hit this town in Yushu County, in northwest China's Qinghai province on April 15. AFP/ Getty Images / Frederic J. Brown
A survivor waves as he was rescued from rubble of a collapsed building after an earthquake in Yushu county, western China's Qinghai province, Thursday, April 15. AP
Chinese firefighters arrive to board flights leaving for Yushu county, which was hit by the 6.9-magnitude earthquake in Qinghai, at the airport in southwest China's Chongqing municipality late on April 14. AFP / Getty Images
Tibetan residents of Jiegu, Yushu County, in northwest China's Qinghai province have a meal outside their makeshift tents amid the rubble of demolished homes on April 15. AFP / Getty Images / Frederic J. Brown
Tibetan people have dinner near a fire close to their collapsed houses in the earthquake-hit Jiegu town, Yushu, in west China's Qinghai province, Thursday, April 15. AP / Alexander F. Yuan
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