Beijing - Security forces detained a German journalist and seized his laptop computer and other items Thursday in south-west China.

Henrik Bork, a correspondent for the Munich-based Sueddeutsche Zeitung, described the incident by telephone to Deutsche Presse- Agentur dpa in Beijing later Thursday, following his release.

Traveling over demolished mountain roads the previous day Bork had reached the town of Yingxiu in Wenchuan county, the epicentre of Monday's earthquake.

"They apprehended me and assigned three soldiers to watch me," said Bork, the only foreign journalist in the area.

The military said that Bork's safety could not be guaranteed.

Two dozen Chinese journalists in Yingxiu were able to work unchallenged, Bork said.

Destruction in the area is massive. According to reports from the state news agency Xinhua, several thousand people have died in Yingxiu alone. (dpa)