China quake death toll could rise to 50,000

"My thoughts are with everyone back in my home country of China during this very dark and emotional time," Yao said in a statement from Houston, where he is recovering from a broken left foot with hopes of competing in the Beijing Olympics this August.

As the rescue effort gathered momentum, the depth of the problem of tens of thousands homeless stretched government resources.

North of Chengdu in Deyang, the largest town near the devastated areas of Hanwang and Mianyang, thousands of people have streamed into the city hospital since Monday, mostly with head or bone injuries.

Patients heavily wrapped in bandages and with cuts and bruises were huddled in canvas tents in the hospital's parking lot.

"Our doctors have worked continuously since Monday and people keep coming in. We have to keep strengthening our measures to keep up," said Luo Mingxuan, the Communist Party secretary of the hospital.

There were piles of donated clothing for survivors at the hospital and stands for them to make free telephone calls. Handwritten notes with names of the injured were posted on a board in front of the hospital's emergency section, where ambulances arrived every few minutes.

Also Thursday, a group of 33 American, British and French tourists were airlifted from Wolong, site of the world's most famous panda preserve, to the provincial capital of Chengdu, Xinhua reported. All were in good health, Xinhua said.

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Associated Press writers Audra Ang in Mianyang, Christopher Bodeen in Dujiangyan, and Cara Anna and Anita Chang in Beijing contributed to this report.