The Ministry of Communications said on Tuesday it allocated 10 million yuan (about US$1.43 million) in emergency funds to restore transportation to quake-hit areas.

Monday's 7.8-magnitude quake centered in Wenchuan County, 159 kilometers northwest of the Sichuan provincial capital city of Chengdu, interrupted transportation in many areas.

The road from Dujiangyan, a city northwest of the provincial capital Chengdu, to Wenchuan was blocked by rocks and mud slides, holding up rescue, medical and other disaster relief teams. Conditions in other 11 counties remained unknown as a result of communications outages.

Many highways in the Tibetan-Qiang Autonomous Prefecture of Aba, Sichuan Province, where the epicenter was, were closed to traffic.

Minister of Communications Li Shenglin urged the restoration of traffic flows in these areas as soon as possible to guarantee rescue efforts.

On Tuesday morning, the ministry sent a rescue team of experts on bridges, road and telecommunications to Sichuan to help restore the traffic infrastructure.

(Xinhua News Agency May 13, 2008)