Olympic torch relay in quake-hit Sichuan Province might be shortened as the Olympics organisers are mulling to remove the badly stricken cities of Mianyang, Guanghan and Dujiangyan off the schedule.

The Sichuan leg of the Beijing Olympic torch relay had been cut by a day and postponed to the week before the Games' opening ceremony to allow for relief work in the quake-torn province.

"The torch relay will tour Guang'an, Leshan, Zigong, Yibin and Chengdu between August 3-5, and due to the earthquake, the Mianyang, Guanghan and Dujiangyan legs might be cancelled," Sichuan torch relay chief Zhu Ling told Xinhua on Saturday.

The death toll from China's most deadly earthquake in decades hit 68,977 as of Saturday noon, with 367,854 injured and 17,974 missing. The aftershocks are also in progress, putting people's lives in jeopardy.

The torch relay was also suspended between May 19-21 for national mourning for the victims of the Sichuan earthquake.

(Xinhua News Agency May 31, 2008)