Professional rescuers had excavated 82 survivors buried under quake debris in China as of 10:00 PM on Wednesday, deputy director of China Seismological Bureau Liu Yuchen said on Thursday.

Of the rescued, 28 were by the Chinese International Rescue Team and 54 by provincial rescue teams from Hainan, Shandong, Sichuan and Chongqing, Liu told a meeting of the national quake relief headquarters.

The rescued included a pregnant woman and in another case, it took six hours for the rescuers to eventually pull the buried person out, he said.

A 7.8-magnitude earthquake rocked southwest China's Sichuan Province Monday afternoon. The death toll across the country has risen to 14,866, the latest government statistics show.

Liu said professional rescuers from 27 provinces and municipalities of the country have been divided into 20 teams and sent to different quake areas to search for buried survivors.

(Xinhua News Agency May 18, 2008)