The story

Nothing remains of Donghekou.

A mountain sheared off by China's massive earthquake swallowed the village whole, entombing an unknown number of people inside a huge mound of freshly churned brown earth. The road to the village ends in a tangled twist of metal and tar. The landscape, eerie and still, shows few signs of human life -- a soiled green floral scarf, a rubber pipe, a log.

Wen Xiaoying, 32, held up one hand as she ticked off the family members buried somewhere in the muck before her -- her father, her mother, her sister and her brother-in-law.

"Oh God! I have lost everything," she said, her voice shaking as she surveyed the valley for the first time since returning from her job in far-off Guangdong province.

The landslide blocked the valley's Qingzhu river and a lake rising behind the wall of debris threatened Saturday to break its banks and send torrents cascading into villages downstream. Fear of flooding in Donghekou and the town of Beichuan 60 miles to the south sent thousands of survivors fleeing Saturday in a region still staggering from the country's worst disaster in 30 years. Read full article »

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

All About U.S. National Earthquake Information CenterChinaSichuan ProvinceWen Jiabao

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