An officer of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) died of massive blood loss in lung Tuesday because of overwork in the quake relief, according to military sources.

It's the first case of a soldier's death during quake relief operations, besides five crew members killed in a helicopter crash on May 31.

Wu Wenbin, 26, officer in Jinan Military Areas, fainted Monday evening when unloading materials for temporary houses.

It's reported that he joined other soldiers to unload things after finishing his own part. He was immediately sent to hospital.

He had been working in evacuating quake-affected people, sending food and drinking water to villagers and searching for a crashed helicopter, the sources said.

Some 130,000 troops and armed police, who were involved in the rescue work following the May 12 earthquake, are now helping to relocate survivors and resume production and reconstruction, Yang Qingtang, senior officer with the PLA General Political Department told a press conference on June 11.

Ma Jian, deputy director of the Combat Department of the PLA General Staff Headquarters, said the military has paid close attention to the soldiers' safety during disaster relief work at the same press conference.

The 8.0-magnitude quake centered in Sichuan claimed nearly 70,000 lives, injured more than 374,000 people, left another 17,415 missing, and made millions homeless.

(Xinhua News Agency June 19, 2008)