BEICHUAN, China (AP) -- The few buildings left standing in the earthquake-stricken Chinese town of Beichaun (bay-shwan) are falling to the wrecker's ball as the first steps toward reconstruction are taken.

The smell of bleach in the town that once was home to 30,000 people is overpowering as workers in white protective suits spray disinfectant in the silent streets.

A soldier watching excavators demolishing what is left of the middle school, where residents say hundreds of students and teachers were killed, says, "There are no more signs of life."

The government puts the toll of dead and missing from the May 12th quake at more than 80,000, with the confirmed death toll topping 51,000 -- up almost 10,000 from the day before.

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