A village was immediately engulfed by landslide and water level in a reservoir rose rapidly, recalled an earthquake survivor who is still haunted by terrible memories on Tuesday.

The man named Yang Yang told He Biao, deputy secretary-general of Aba prefectural government that he was on a bus in Yingxiu Town, Wenchuan County of Sichuan Province, the epicenter of the earthquake that claimed at least 9,000 lives.

"I saw a village on the mountainside disappear in a landslide triggered by the earthquake. Many vehicles on the road were swept away or hit by huge rocks," Yang was quoted by He Biao as saying.

The water level in Zipingpu Reservoir also rose quickly, Yang said.

Yang's mobile phone could not be reached on Tuesday morning.

Yang and eight other passengers abandoned the bus and walked 20 kilometers to reach Dujiangyan City on Monday midnight. They escaped "many difficulties and risks," He said.

The Wenchuan county and Aba prefecture governments so far had not received any phone call from the Yingxiu, Sanjiang and Xuankou towns and Wolong district, which have a combined population of 60,000, according to He.

(Xinhua News Agency May 13, 2008)