Hundreds of people are reported dead as buildings collapsed in the earthquake-hit province.

Samuel Dong, Chinese Commercial Consul in Dubai, said that all Chinese expatriates in the UAE are extremely shocked and concerned about the disaster. The Chinese government is now taking measures to prevent further damage to its citizens and to minimise losses during a possible after shock.

He disclosed that only a few expatriates come from this earthquake-affected area. He, however, refrained from giving the exact number as to how many families of Chinese expatriates may be affected by the disaster.

The Consul advised the expatriates here to contact their families back home and, whether their families are victims or not, try to assist them.

Several Chinese expatriates who spoke to Khaleej Times have expressed their wish to help the quake victims by donating in cash or in kind.

Ya Min Guo, 23, of Zheng Zhou City, who works with KFC at the Mall of the Emirates, said she was willing to donate cash for the victims, although her city is not in the area where death toll is rising. She said she was in touch with her family.

Lu Mei, 31, from Nanjing who is working at Mongolian Restaurant, also desires to help in cash after knowing that as of 4pm yesterday a total of 107 died of the tremor, which rocked and collapsed buildings burying many students alive.

"Since I came to the UAE two years ago, I have been using only computers to call and contact my family and friends back home so I have no problem in communicating. But, now, I will be waiting for any news from relatives in the earthquake-ravaged area. So far, I have not received any news because my family cannot call us while at work as mobile phones are not allowed," she added.

Zhao Jia, 22, from Beijing, who has been working at Pada Chinese Restaurant at Shaikh Zayed Road, said she was calling family members and friends from computer so she was not aware if there is difficulty contacting people back home by phones.

"As of this moment, I have not received anything from Beijing. We are not allowed to bring mobile phones at the workplace so I cannot also check if they are affected," she said.

Mei Ling, Di Lu Din and Hu Chiu have been working in a restaurant along bank street in Bur Dubai. The devastating news about the tremor in their country has made them rush to the phone booths. However, they failed to contact their families. They have relatives and families in Yunnan. Hu Chiu is scheduled to go for vacation tomorrow so he is hoping that members of his family are not among the dead.

News from Sichuan Province said that phone lines in Wenchuan were completely cut off and a website said the earthquake had damaged several major highways in the region and communications were down in 11 counties.