The death toll in southwest China's Sichuan Province from the May 12 magnitude 8.0 earthquake rose to 32,173 as of 7:00 PM Sunday, the provincial government said on Monday morning.

Another 9,509 people remained buried, 29,418 others were missing and 209,914 were injured, said Liu Qibao, Party chief of the province, at a teleconference on disaster relief.

Nationwide, the confirmed death toll climbed to 32,476 by 2:00 PM on Sunday, while the final figure was estimated to exceed 50,000.

(Xinhua News Agency May 19, 2008)