Chinese fled quake aftershock

Tens of thousands of people in China\'s quake-hit Sichuan province fled their houses yesterday after a government warning of a possible major aftershock.



People slept on the streets or drove to open ground and hospitals evacuated patients in towns and cities after the warning was broadcast on TV.



It is not the first panic to hit the earthquake-weary residents of Sichuan.



The entire population of the city of Beichuan, close to the epicentre, rushed for high ground on Saturday amid fears that a river bursting its banks could engulf it.



The 7.9 magnitude quake struck on May 12 and left more than 71,000 people dead, buried or missing.