The death toll of China's major earthquake increased by one to 69,186 as of Friday noon, the State Council Information Office said.

The number of the injured stood at 374,174 and people reported missing also remained at 18,457 after the 8.0-magnitude quake jolted southwestern Sichuan Province and neighboring regions on May 12.

As of Friday noon, 96,316 injured people had been hospitalized and 84,438 have recovered and left hospital. There are still 9,242 people remaining in hospital, the office said in a statement.

The relief workers had rescued and evacuated more than 1.47 million people in quake-hit areas as of Thursday.

(Xinhua News Agency June 27, 2008)