China

Three-minute silence for quake victims as three days of mourning begins

Article published on the 2008-05-19 Latest update 2008-05-19 15:28 TU

The Chinese flag at half-mast on Tiananmen Square
(Photo: Reuters)

Air sirens and motorists' horns blared out as traffic stopped; on Beijing's Tiananmen Square thousands gathered, after the national flag was lowered to half-mast; China's cities, towns and villages observed three-minutes of silence in tribute to the thousands of victims of last week's earthquake at 14h28 local time today.

The relay of the Olympic torch has been stopped for three days as a mark for respect for the dead.

Hong Kong and Macau, who have been reunited with China in recent years, joined the mourning.

Official estimates of the death toll have risen to 34,073, with another 9,509 buried in the rubble and 29,418 others missing.

After days of reluctance to allow many foreign aid workers in, the government announced that it will allow foreign medical aid teams to go to the quake-hit south-west.

Japan announced that it will send a medical relief team, while its withdrawing search and rescue workers.