Beichuan, China (AP) A Chinese state news agency says new aftershocks have cut off roads and telecommunications in quake-hit Sichuan province, burying a number of vehicles.

The Xinhua news agency says aftershocks hit a town not far from the epicenter of monday's 7.9-magnitude earthquake.

The confirmed death toll from Monday's earthquake has risen to more than 19 and a-half thousand, but the government expects that figure to more than double.