Nadeem
05-19-2008, 04:24 PM
http://geo.tv/5-19-2008/eng/5-19-2008_18316_l.gif
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 agency. Another 9,509 people remained buried and 29,418 others were missing, Liu said.
The country came to a standstill on Monday exactly one week after its earthquake tragedy, observing three minutes of silence to mourn the tens of thousands of people killed in the disaster.
Across the vast country, millions of people stopped where they were and fell silent, while air-raid sirens blared and motorists honked their horns.
China kicked off a three-day national mourning period on Monday, ordering all flags at half-mast throughout the country and at Chinese embassies and missions overseas. It halted all cultural and entertainment activities.
The Beijing Olympic torch relay that had been making its way through China also has been halted for three days.
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 agency. Another 9,509 people remained buried and 29,418 others were missing, Liu said.
The country came to a standstill on Monday exactly one week after its earthquake tragedy, observing three minutes of silence to mourn the tens of thousands of people killed in the disaster.
Across the vast country, millions of people stopped where they were and fell silent, while air-raid sirens blared and motorists honked their horns.
China kicked off a three-day national mourning period on Monday, ordering all flags at half-mast throughout the country and at Chinese embassies and missions overseas. It halted all cultural and entertainment activities.
The Beijing Olympic torch relay that had been making its way through China also has been halted for three days.