More than 200 workers were buried in the past three days by frequent mud flows while repairing roads damaged in the May 12 Sichuan earthquake, said Dai Dongchang, an official with the Ministry of Transport on Monday.

Dai said this at an online interview with the central government website (www.gov.zn). It's not clear if they had died or not. Dai is not immediately available for comment.

Two construction machines and six vehicles were also buried in the mud flows, he said.

Landslide, mudflows and aftershocks were frequent after the deadly quake which killed more than 30,000 people. Blocked rivers swollen by heavy rain threatened to burst their banks.

Dai said relief workers risked their lives repairing three major roads connecting the epicenter Wenchuan and neighbouring counties to the outside world. By Monday, traffic had resumed on the three roads.

He said by Monday roads leading to more than 100 quake-hit towns and villages had also been repaired and opened to traffic while traffic to some 50 towns and villages were still cut by rocks and mudslides.

According to initial calculations by Sichuan Province, economic losses caused by road destruction amounted to 15 billion yuan (US$2.2 billion), said Dai.

(Xinhua News Agency May 19, 2008)