Altogether 200 million yuan (US$28.6 million) of indemnities has been paid by China's insurance firms for the quake losses as of Thursday, according to China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC).

The figure was 64.6 million yuan more than that of previous day, the CIRC said on Friday.

It included indemnities for 15,300 deaths, 1,978 injuries and 49,500 damaged houses.

The Munich Re Group, the world's second largest reinsurer, estimated the country's insurance firms would pay out 300 million to one billion euros in claims relating to the May 12 earthquake, Saturday's China Securities Journal reported.

This is compared to the 150 billion yuan damage in direct economic losses estimated by economists.

The death toll from the powerful earthquake rose to 68,858 as of Friday noon, with another 366,586 people counted as injured and 18,618 listed as missing, according to the Information Office of the State Council.

(Xinhua News Agency May 31, 2008)