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Nation unites to mour tragic victims of Gansu
Source: Xinhua/Shanghai Daily |
August 15, 2010, Sunday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
China declared a national day of mourning for victims of the devastating mudslide in northwestern Gansu Province, as authorities yesterday stressed the importance of hygiene and safety for the thousands now living in temporary shelters.
Chinese flags across the country and at embassies and consulates overseas will be lowered to half-mast today to commemorate those killed in the landslide last weekend, the central government said on its website.
As of last night, the death toll from the massive mudslide had risen to 1,239, with 505 still missing, local disaster relief headquarters said.
Public entertainment activities, such as online video games and lighthearted television programs, will be suspended for the day.
Cinemas, theaters and nightclubs will also be closed.
Today is the seventh day after the mudslide and, according to some Chinese traditions, the seventh day after a death is the height of the mourning period.
Large-scale national displays of mourning are rare.
China had a three-day national mourning period after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake and a one-day national mourning period after the Yushu quake on April 21 this year, during which national flags were lowered to half-mast and public entertainment suspended.
Rainstorms forecast for the coming days remain a threat to Zhouqu, where soldiers are still working around the clock to remove debris from the swollen Bailong River that runs through the center of town.
More rain could cause the river to overflow and further inundate the town that is already one-third under water after being swallowed in waves of mud and rubble-strewn water a week ago.
Authorities are working to disinfect drinking water supplies and have brought in mobile water purification units that can provide clean water for up to 30,000 people, according to the China News Service.
Also yesterday, 38 people were reported missing after rain triggered new landslides in Wenchuan County in southwest China's Sichuan Province.
Floods destroyed the prefabricated buildings used as hospital facilities in Wenchuan County, where the magnitude-8.0 earthquake claimed almost 70,000 lives on May 12, 2008.
A 200-meter section of National Highway 213, the only highway linking Wenchuan to the provincial capital of Chengdu, was 4 meters deep in water.
More than 4,000 people and about 1,300 vehicles were stranded on blocked roads in the county.
The total included more than 300 people in Yingxiu Town, which was the epicenter of the 2008 quake, and more than 700 in the Sanjiang tourist area.
Flooding and rains had killed about 1,500 people across China this year even before the latest landslide.
Chinese flags across the country and at embassies and consulates overseas will be lowered to half-mast today to commemorate those killed in the landslide last weekend, the central government said on its website.
As of last night, the death toll from the massive mudslide had risen to 1,239, with 505 still missing, local disaster relief headquarters said.
Public entertainment activities, such as online video games and lighthearted television programs, will be suspended for the day.
Cinemas, theaters and nightclubs will also be closed.
Today is the seventh day after the mudslide and, according to some Chinese traditions, the seventh day after a death is the height of the mourning period.
Large-scale national displays of mourning are rare.
China had a three-day national mourning period after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake and a one-day national mourning period after the Yushu quake on April 21 this year, during which national flags were lowered to half-mast and public entertainment suspended.
Rainstorms forecast for the coming days remain a threat to Zhouqu, where soldiers are still working around the clock to remove debris from the swollen Bailong River that runs through the center of town.
More rain could cause the river to overflow and further inundate the town that is already one-third under water after being swallowed in waves of mud and rubble-strewn water a week ago.
Authorities are working to disinfect drinking water supplies and have brought in mobile water purification units that can provide clean water for up to 30,000 people, according to the China News Service.
Also yesterday, 38 people were reported missing after rain triggered new landslides in Wenchuan County in southwest China's Sichuan Province.
Floods destroyed the prefabricated buildings used as hospital facilities in Wenchuan County, where the magnitude-8.0 earthquake claimed almost 70,000 lives on May 12, 2008.
A 200-meter section of National Highway 213, the only highway linking Wenchuan to the provincial capital of Chengdu, was 4 meters deep in water.
More than 4,000 people and about 1,300 vehicles were stranded on blocked roads in the county.
The total included more than 300 people in Yingxiu Town, which was the epicenter of the 2008 quake, and more than 700 in the Sanjiang tourist area.
Flooding and rains had killed about 1,500 people across China this year even before the latest landslide.
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