Repair workers are still 40 km from the epicenter of Monday's devastating Sichuan earthquake, a senior official of the Ministry of Transport told reporters here on Wednesday afternoon.

He did not say when the road might be open.

"We are progressing at the quickest pace on a road from Lixian to Wenchuan from the west, and people are about 50 to 70 km from Wenchuan on other roads leading to the epicenter," Vice Minister of Transport Feng Zhenglin told a press conference here.

"We have sent five inspection teams to check the road ahead on foot in order to find out what ... would be needed to reopen the road as soon as possible," he added.

"If the inspection work was properly done, we would be able to progress at a quicker pace," he said.

Roads to the epicenter were closed due to damage caused by the 7.8-magnitude quake, and the situation was making rescue efforts difficult even 48 hours after the quake.

(Xinhua News Agency May 14, 2008)