Most of those evacuated were students, the official Chinese news agency Xinhua reported. They were taken to the Jiuzhou Indoor Stadium in Mianyang where 7,395 deaths were reported from Monday's seismic jolt. Overall, some 12,000 deaths have been confirmed in Sinchuan province.

Zhang Xiaoying, a volunteer at the rescue station set up in the stadium, told Xinhua some survivors are so traumatized they'd rather stand outside in the rain than be inside the covered stadium.