纽约时报：中国为在地震中失去生命的人默哀！

momoren · 发表于 2008-5-19 20:16:08

158 Relief Workers in China Are Killed by Landslides

MIANYANG, CHINA — China mourned the deaths of tens of thousands of people from last week’s earthquakewith three minutes of silence Monday as the government said that overthe past three days landslides killed 158 relief workers, burying themin mud as they tried to repair roads in some of the worst hit areas. The official moment of silence began at 2:28 p.m., exactly a weekafter the powerful earthquake struck this part of southwestern China,causing the worst natural disaster the country has seen in more than 30years. The moment of mourning halted traffic around the countryand quieted a nation with bowed heads and moist eyes. Rescue workersalso stopped to honor the dead, marking a pause in a difficult butmassive relief effort as the hopes of finding new survivors continue todim. Powerful aftershocks hampered relief efforts in thesouthwestern province of Sichuan. Rain and floods have posed additionalthreats, forcing some operations to be temporarily suspended. Thedeaths caused by landslides were reported by Xinhua, the official newsagency, but the brief report gave few other details. Despitethe rising death toll, there were a few more remarkable rescues Monday,following a week of small miracles that have been played out onstate-run television and have prompted a flood of aid and donationsfrom around the world. After being buried for nearly a week, a50-year-old woman was pulled from the rubble of a residential buildingnear a coal mine in Hanwang Township on Monday, the government said. In Beichuan County, a 61-year-old woman who was trapped in debris forabout 145 hours was also rescued Monday morning, officials said. But with the confirmed death toll raised to 34,000 by late Monday, andthe government saying the figure could reach 50,000, there is moregrief than hope here. For most families, there are only dead bodies andmissing relatives, and the odds of finding a relative alive are nowsmall. To honor those who have suffered, Beijing declared a three-day period of national mourning, beginning Monday. Flags flew at half staff and the Olympic torch relay was suspended until Wednesday. In addition, entertainment on television and even online has been curtailed or banned. In Mianyang County, one of the hardest hit areas, people stood for amoment of silence at 2:28 p.m. near the People’s Park. Cars and buseshonked their horns, echoing air raid sirens and the sounds of a nationthat was otherwise momentarily quieted. At the Veranda Bridgerestaurant in Chengdu, the provincial capital, about two hours’ drivefrom Mianyang, a hundred waiters and waitresses lined up in four rows,and listened to their manager declare, “We are doing this to rememberthe people who have died.” And in every part of the country,from Urumuqi in the far west, to Hong Kong on the southeast coast,people stood still to remember those who were killed or harmed by themassive earthquake that the government now says reached a magnitude of8.0. President Hu Jintao and other top Chinese leaders led the silent tribute from Zhongnanhai, the central government compound in Beijing. While the nation hangs on stories of remarkable rescues by the morethan 140,000 relief and medical workers involved in the rescue, thegrim realities of the enormous devastation that has destroyed thisregion are settling in. More than 240,000 people have beenhospitalized. Many survivors were forced to have limbs amputated. Andnow, thousands of bodies are being buried and cremated. Somehow, experts say, an entire region needs to be bulldozed andrebuilt. Hundreds of dams and power stations damaged by the earthquakeneed repair. And perhaps most troubling, the government saysthat about five million people have been left homeless by theearthquake. While huge donations have poured in, totaling over $1.2billion, many of the survivors say they have nowhere to go. For the moment, they are living in tents and sports stadiums,reflecting on what has happened to them since that fateful moment lastMonday. “These days I keep going to every hospital in Mianyangtrying to find my son,” said Yang Li, 29, who is living in a sportsstadium and hoping that somehow she will find her five-year-old boy,Wang Tong Tian, who was in kindergarten when the earthquake struck. “Ikeep praying we’ll find him. I want my son and I want my home.” ChenYang contributed research in Mianyang, Jake Hooker contributedreporting from Chengdu and Keith Badsher contributed reporting fromHong Kong.