Professionals must be given priority, Premier Li says

Heavy traffic is continuing to make life difficult for rescue workers struggling to reach the epicenter of Sunday's earthquake in Yunnan province.

The problems have arisen as top leaders say that professional rescuers should be given priority to enter the disaster area.

Premier Li Keqiang has told provincial authorities to send more rescue workers and senior medical staff members to areas where they are most needed and to locate injured residents.

It is important to transfer the injured more quickly, Li said.

Three days after the quake, attention should also be paid to preventing epidemics, Li said. He ordered authorities to allocate more professionals to sterilize disaster areas.

The magnitude-6.5 quake killed at least 410 people and injured more than 2,300 others. Local authorities have set up checkpoints to allow professional rescuers through.

Heavy rain has caused a series of landslides and brought increased problems for traffic, said Song Jianhui, a police officer at the Ludian Public Security Bureau.

One of two bridges giving access to Longquan village, one of the worst affected, collapsed during the quake and rescuers could only take a roundabout route, Song said.

Deng Zhiping, an army commander, said the biggest difficulty is traffic jams, which have slowed rescue work and prevented relief materials from reaching disaster zones. Deng's group spent nearly three hours walking to Longtoushan township after overnight rain and a mudslide.

Yin Jianye, deputy governor of Yunnan, who rushed to the township on Monday night, told provincial authorities to enforce traffic controls strictly. The heavy traffic has meant that the seriously injured have had to be moved from the disaster area by helicopters, reducing efficiency of the rescue efforts, he added.

Zhang Qi, deputy provincial frontier defense commander, said large medical equipment and medicines could not reach the epicenter because of the traffic congestion. "Only 210 soldiers, including 150 professional rescuers, have arrived at the township," he said.

Nie Jianliang, who led a team of 26 rescuers from Beijing that reached the disaster area on Monday, said, "We walked for about two hours and reached Longquan village and began rescue work on Tuesday."

On Tuesday morning, Li visited Ludian People's Hospital, the closest hospital to the epicenter, where more than 280 patients are being treated. Visiting a ward, Li consoled the wounded Fu Mingxiu, whose five relatives were killed in the quake.

In response to patients worrying about their medical costs, Li noted that the government will fully cover all treatment costs for people wounded in the quake and will see that every one of them gets meticulous care.

Thanking the medical staff, Li called on them to tend to both the physical and psychological wounds of the patients.

"You rushed to ground zero of the quake to rescue, transfer and treat the wounded with your professional humanitarian spirit. Such treatments rely on professional skills, medical equipment as well as your love for the people," he said.

The premier urged medical experts arriving from other regions including Beijing, Shanghai and Chongqing to make full use of their expertise to treat local people.

Thousands of armed police, firefighters and soldiers, as well as eight planes have been rushed to Yunnan Province.

The Chengdu Military Area Command has dispatched six helicopters and deployed more than 4,000 servicemen and paramilitary reserve forces to the quake zone.

The Air Force also sent two cargo planes from Beijing and Chengdu to transport relief personnel and materials to the quake zone on Monday morning.

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Cao Yin and Luo Wangshu in Beijing and Xinhua contributed to this story.