Li Juan, the head of Huanhuan Kindergarten in Mianzhu, a city in the southwestern province of Sichuan, is haunted by her last sight of teacher Qu Wanrong.

Qu, 21, was found crouched on the ground under a cement slab, with a child clutched in her arms, when rescuers clawed through the debris of the school after Monday's 7.8 magnitude earthquake.

The quake ravaged Wenchuan County and claimed more than 10,000 lives. Qu was one of those who died. The child she was shielding survived.

"Qu saved the child at the cost of her life," sobbed Li.

The school's 80 children were napping when the building collapsed, leaving more than 50 children and three teachers, including Qu, dead.

Parents rushed to the site, calling the names of their children. The children, buried in the debris, at first replied weakly. Soon, most of them fell silent.

The parents waited helplessly until rescuers trekked in through a downpour on Tuesday.

Small pillows, quilts embroidered with delicate cartoon pictures and little shoes scattered in the kindergarten yard, all reminded people of the smiles and songs once heard in the kindergarten, whose name means "double joy" in Chinese.

Preserving dignity of deceased

As rescuers cleared the rubble and pulled out the bodies, no one had the heart to look twice at the once lively and happy faces.

It was hard to find anything to cover their bodies. He Siping, who runs a textile business, rushed back to her shop despite the danger of aftershocks and returned with a roll of red tarp to use as shrouds.

"I just want to preserve the dignity of the children," she said.

More than 400 lives ended in Zundao town, where Huanhuan Kindergarten formerly stood and 80 percent of the farm houses collapsed.

The number of those buried has still not been calculated.

(Xinhua News Agency May 14, 2008)