Published on August 15, 2010
China Sunday observed a national day of mourning for the more than 1,200 people killed in last week’s massive landslides in northwest Gansu province as heavy rains continued to batter the country.
Chinese flags across the country and at embassies and consulates overseas were lowered to half-staff while public entertainment was suspended to remember those who were killed in the landslide last weekend Zhouqu County.
Last week’s disaster killed 1,239 people, according to the latest government figures. Another 505 people are still missing. Chinese President Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao and several other top leaders, condoled the death of the mudslide victims.
Thousands of rescue workers and Zhouqu residents bowed their heads in silence as a siren wailed at 10 a.m. State TV showed coal miners in northern China and railway workers with their heads bowed in mourning. Mourning ceremonies were also held Sunday in Lanzhou, capital city of Gansu.
At Heiyu and Labrang monasteries, monks and believers attended a religious ritual to mourn for the dead. Soldiers were still struggling to remove debris from the swollen Bailong River that flows through Zhouqu and prevent more flooding.
One-third of the town is still under water following the disaster. The Ministry of Civil Affairs said at least 45,000 people were evacuated. Sunday’s issues of major newspapers, including the People’s Daily, were printed in black and white to mark the day of mourning.
It was the third time in two years that China has observed national mourning for a disaster. China observed a three-day national mourning period after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake that killed 90,000 people, and a one-day national mourning after the Yushu quake on 14th April this year that killed 2,698 people.
Authorities warned heavy rains would continue into Sunday and said further flash floods, Xinhua said. Meanwhile, floods and landslides have left 11 people dead and 60 missing over the past three days in southwest China’s Sichuan Province, according to the provincial civil affairs department.
Saturday, at least 38 people were reported missing after landslides destroyed hospital buildings in Wenchuan county, the epicentre of an earthquake in May 2008 that left nearly 87,000 dead or missing.
In Gansu, new floods and landslides have killed 33 people and left 63 missing in the city of Longnan close to Zhouqu, Xinhua said. As of Saturday, almost 500,000 people were affected and 20,000 had been evacuated.
About 24,000 homes had been damaged and 17,000 hectares of crops had been affected. Direct economic losses stood at about 1 billion yuan (USD 147 million).