Rescuers reached the remotest quake-hit villages in mountainous Sichuan Province on Monday, a week after the 8.0-magnitude earthquake that it's feared could claim more than 50,000 lives.

Li Chengyun, vice governor of Sichuan, told reporters here that the rescuers had arrived at all 3,669 quake-affected villages in Sichuan as of 2:28 PM on Monday, with the last 77 villages getting help since midnight on Sunday.

(Xinhua News Agency May 19, 2008)