BEIJING -- More than 71,000 people are dead, buried or missing in southwest China's Sichuan province following last week's earthquake, state-run Xinhua news agency quoted the top provincial leader as saying Monday.

The number of people confirmed killed in the province as of late Sunday is 32,173, Sichuan Communist Party chief Liu Qibao said, according to Xinhua.

Another 9,509 people remained buried and 29,418 others were missing, Liu said.