China Mourns Quake Victims

Updated on Monday, May 19 at 8:30 am ET 

WENCHUAN, China (AP) — China stood still Monday, mourning for tens of thousands of earthquake victims, while the government appealed for more international aid to cope with the country's deadliest natural disaster in a generation.

Construction workers, shopkeepers and bureaucrats across the bustling nation of 1.3 billion people paused for three minutes of tribute at 2:28 p.m. (0628 GMT) — exactly one week after the magnitude 7.9 quake hit central China. Air-raid sirens and the horns of cars and buses sounded in memory of the dead, expected to surpass 50,000.

Rescuers also briefly halted work in the disaster zone, where the hunt for survivors turned glum despite remarkable survival tales among thousands buried. Two women were rescued Monday after being trapped in the rubble of a collapsed building at a coal mine in Sichuan province, where the quake was centered, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

The confirmed death toll from the May 12 quake rose to 34,073, the State Council, China's Cabinet, said Monday. Another 5,260 remained buried in Sichuan, the provincial government said, according to Xinhua.

Officials have said they expect final deaths in the disaster to exceed 50,000, with more than 245,000 reported injured.

In an indication of the challenge in dealing with millions of homeless and injured survivors, China said it would accept foreign medical teams and issued an international appeal for tents.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said in a statement that tents were a priority "because many houses were toppled in the quake and because it is the rainy season."

In the quake area, more than 200 relief workers were buried over the past three days by mudslides while working to repair roads in Sichuan, Xinhua reported.

An official confirmed there had been mudslides causing some deaths but gave no details. "The total death toll is still being counted," said the official at the Sichuan provincial Communications Department who only gave his last name, Shi.

More potential landslides were predicted by the Central Meteorological Observatory, with heavy rains forecast this week for some areas close to the epicenter.

The military was still struggling to reach areas cut off by the earthquake, with more than 10,000 people discovered stranded in Yinxiui valley near the epicenter, China National Radio said Monday. There was no information on casualties there, and 600 soldiers were hiking into the area.

Quake-related losses to companies totaled 67 billion yuan (US$9.5 billion, euro7 billion), Deputy Industry Minister Xi Guohua said Monday.

During three days of national mourning ordered by the government, flags were to fly at half-staff and entertainment events were canceled — an unprecedented outpouring of state sympathy on a level normally reserved for dead leaders.

The Olympic torch relay, a potent symbol of national pride in the countdown to August's much-anticipated Beijing games, was suspended.

Rescuers in quake-hit Beichuan, who had been working since the morning to reach a victim buried in rubble whose ear was visible, also paused Monday during the moment of tribute.

A convoy of police cars, ambulances and other rescue vehicles let off a long blast from their horns as the workers in orange jumpsuits stood quietly with eyes downcast, some removing their white hardhats.

"Our hearts are so heavy, so many of our compatriots are dead," said rescuer Ma Tang Chuan. "As long as we try our best, we have some small hope."

In Beijing's Tiananmen Square, hundreds of people bowed their heads and then began shouting "Long Live China!" while thrusting their fists in the air. Traffic on the capital's highways and roads stopped. Some drivers got out of their cars while others blared their horns.

Volunteers at Wangfujing shopping street handed out white ribbons reading "lovingly remember," before hundreds of merchants spilled into the street. The period of silence started early and ended up stretching past the three-minute mark, before it was broken by a burst of noise from a construction site next door.

"It's the first time we've stopped," said Bai Zhenzong, a worker at the site. "This is awful. This shows how importantly the Chinese government is treating this."

Chinese President Hu Jintao and other top Communist Party leaders were shown on state TV bowing their heads, white flowers pinned to the lapels of their dark suits. Hu had spent three days touring the worst-hit areas of Sichuan.

Trade on China's stock and commodities exchanges was also suspended for the three-minute period of silence, the Securities Regulatory Commission said.

The government ordered all Internet entertainment and game sites to be taken off-line for the mourning period and users redirected to sites dedicated to quake victims, the Chinese news Web portal sina.com said.

China's National Grand Theater will cancel or postpone all performances during the three days, and media reports said bars, nightclubs, karaoke parlors and movie theaters closed at midnight Sunday in major cities.

Hu Yongcui, 38, said she did not care about the public show of mourning as she headed to Beichuan, near the quake's epicenter, to search for her missing 17-year-old daughter.

"I can't feel anything. I have no words," she said. "I just want to go home. I just want to find my daughter."

In a sign the search for survivors was concluding, Japan said it was considering withdrawing rescue crews it had sent to China to be replaced with an expanded medical team because of declining opportunities to hunt for trapped victims.

"It's been a week since the earthquake and at this point chances we can make use of our technology are very limited," Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura told reporters, according to Japan's Kyodo News agency. He said the country was ready to "dispatch a team whenever there is a request."

At a meeting led by Premier Wen Jiabao, the government decided that each resident of the disaster area will receive a 600 yuan (US$86, euro55) monthly living allowance for three months, state television reported.

In Dujiangyan, three local government officials were fired for dereliction of duty over the earthquake — the first officials punished, Xinhua reported. One was reprimanded for miscounting casualty figures, while the others had failed to come to work.

The Communist Party's discipline committee had instructed all officials to "stand at the front line" of the disaster and vowed to deal harshly with those who did not, the agency said.

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