A Chinese cable repair worker died after being hit by rocks as a moderate aftershock hit the Lixian County of Sichuan on Saturday afternoon, and another was critically injured.

Liu Jianqiu, 36, a China Mobile worker in the Aba Prefecture, was laying cables on the road linking Gu'ergou to Lixian, according to a statement posted on the Aba government website.

Telecommunications links to the affected area had been cut by the 5.9-magnitude aftershock that hit the area around 1:25 PM on Saturday.

Liu died in hospital and another worker Li Weixiang was in critical condition.

(Xinhua News Agency May 17, 2008)