In pictures: China's grief

Two days on from China's most devastating earthquake for 30 years, the scale of the damage is just becoming clear. WARNING: VIEWERS MAY FIND THE FOLLOWING IMAGES DISTURBING.

This picture shows the scale of the damage in one town alone in Beichuan county. Damaged or blocked roads mean rescuers have to dig through rubble with their bare hands.

The official death toll stands at nearly 15,000 - but officials fear it could rise dramatically.

Hundreds of children have been buried in a number of collapsed schools and hope is running out that more survivors will be pulled out.

In dozens of towns, cities and villages across a wide swathe of Sichuan province, shocked survivors are huddling underneath makeshift shelters.

Emergency medical centres have been set up on any available space to treat the thousands of injured people.

There have been stories of valour among rescue teams - and survivors are still being pulled from the rubble.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao rushed to Sichuan province, where he has been comforting survivors and rallying emergency crews.

Aid has been pouring in from all around China, as officials mount a huge rescue operation.

But thousands of bodies remain buried in the debris of devastated buildings that now litter the landscape of Sichuan.

And many of the survivors face the prospect of rebuilding their lives without the help of their loved ones.

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