1.3bn stop in their steps for 3 minutes as China — officially mourning civilian deaths for the first time ever — lowers flags at public places
PINGTONG: From tent cities in Sichuan province to Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, sirens wailed and millions of Chinese stood for three minutes on Monday to mourn tens of thousands who died in last week’s earthquake.
The moment of grief was observed across the vast country of 1.3 billion people at 2:28 pm, exactly a week after the 7.9 magnitude quake that ravaged the southwestern province. “I think the three minutes was important because it means that everyone, from the central government down to every individual, is thinking of us. Because this is worse than a war,” said He Ling, a policeman in Pingtong town, which was totally wrecked by the earthquake.
Even as the rescuers stopped work, another aftershock rattled the area and set off a small landslide from a nearby cliff. Troops and medics lined up with bowed heads and a huge Chinese flag flew from a pile of rubble. The death toll from the quake rose to more than 34,000 but thousands remain buried under the rubble and officials expect the final figure to top 50,000.
Hundreds of aftershocks and bad weather have hampered the rescue operation, and the transport ministry reported that more than 200 relief workers had been buried by mudflows in recent days. Details of the accidents were not immediately available. It was unclear whether any of those buried had been pulled out alive.
Air raid sirens, as well as car, train and ship horns wailed around the country to mark the one-week anniversary. Flags flew at half mast and cinemas were ordered to stop showing films for the mourning period. In Beichuan, several hundred rescuers bowed their heads and laid wreaths. “We’re all feeling very heavy hearted. So many people weren’t saved,” a soldier said. In Beijing, the country’s top leaders, led by President Hu Jintao, wore white flowers on their chests and bowed in silence.
Nearby, in Tiananmen Square, the sombre mood quickly turned into a vocal show of patriotism. About 1,000 flag-waving people marched in the vast square, singing the national anthem and chanting Go China Go and Rebuild Sichuan.
This is the first ever national mourning held for victims of natural disasters since the People’s Republic was founded in 1949 and the most extensive ever since the last one in 1997 was ordered when China’s paramount leader Deng Xiaoping, the architect of economic reforms that brought moderate prosperity to tens of millions of people, passed away. India has offered aid to China.
