The Ministry of Finance announced on Friday it has allocated another 531 million yuan (76.41 million U.S. dollars) in relief funds to quake-stricken areas.

As of 2 p.m. Friday, the country had appropriated 14.629 billion yuan in relief funds for quake-ravaged regions, including 10.826 billion yuan from the central budget and 3.803 billion yuan from local budgets (including 1.09 billion yuan in donations).

The known death toll from the deadly earthquake had risen to 55,740 as of Friday at noon, according to the Information Office of the State Council, the Cabinet.

Another 292,481 people were counted as injured and 24,960 were still listed as missing as a result of the 8.0-magnitude quake centered in the southwestern Sichuan Province on May 12.

(Xinhua News Agency May 24, 2008)