Tuesday rescues as emphasis turns to relief
(CNN) — A man was rescued after being trapped for nearly 179 hours in a collapsed building near the epicenter of the May 12 earthquake that struck China’s Sichuan province, the country’s state-run news agency reported Tuesday.
The 31-year-old man was pulled out of the debris of a flattened power plant, Xinhua News Agency reported. It did not say how seriously he was injured.
It was the second case of someone being found alive a week after the May 12 earthquake struck Sichuan province. Xinhua said Peng Guohua, a miner, was in stable condition Tuesday after being trapped for 170 hours. It did not give any details of his rescue Monday.
The news of Tuesday’s rescues came as recovery efforts began scaling back in some areas, and the emphasis began shifting to burying or cremating the dead, health care for residents and shelter for quake refugees and orphans.
On Monday, crowds gathered in the devastated city of Chengdu shouted Farewell, friends! and Rebuild! as China began three days of national mourning Monday to honor the tens of thousands killed by last week’s massive earthquake.
The death toll in worst-hit Sichuan province, southwestern China, rose to at least 34,073 with another 245,109 people hurt, Chinese government officials said Monday. Authorities have estimated that the final death toll could reach 50,000, while millions more people have been left homeless by the disaster.
Traffic halted, work stopped and people bowed their heads across the country to observe three minutes of silence as air raid sirens, car, truck and train horns sounded a wail of grief at 2:28 p.m. (0628 GMT), exactly one week since the earthquake struck. Even rescue workers paused from the job of clearing debris and searching for survivors to mark the moment.
In Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan, the three minutes was followed by shouts of support for the recovery effort, CNN correspondent Eunice Yoon said.
During the moment of silence they were all holding hands, some of them were weeping… They are in a state of utter disbelief and utter shock that so many people have died, said Yoon. Watch mourners in Chengdu express their grief
Meanwhile, at least 200 rescue workers have been buried by mud slides during the past three days, a transport ministry official told the official Xinhua state news agency.
Two construction machines and six vehicles were also buried in the mud flows during efforts to repair quake-shattered roads in the region, Dai Dongchang told Xinhua.
Earlier, Xinhua reported that two women had been pulled alive from the rubble of a collapsed residential building in the Sichuan county of Beichuan.
Wang Fazhen, 50, was rescued at about 10:30 a.m. local time Monday. The other woman, who was not identified, was pulled from the same area about 40 minutes later, the agency reported.
On Sunday a 53-year-old man, was pulled out of the rubble in Yingxiu town in Sichuan’s Wenchuan county — near the epicenter — 148 hours after the quake, Xinhua said. The effort took eight hours, the news agency said.
In Beijing’s Tiananmen Square around 2,600 people watched as the national flag was ceremonially lowered to half-mast. Flags throughout the country were also lowered and condolences books were opened in China’s Foreign Ministry and Chinese embassies and consulates around the world, Xinhua reported.
CNN’s Beijing bureau chief Jaime Florcruz said it was the first time China had formally commemorated the victims of a natural disaster with a period of national mourning. iReport.com: Beijing residents pause to mourn
The Olympic torch relay was suspended during the mourning period, China’s state-run television announced. The torch was going to be in the eastern cities of Ningbo and Jiaxing in Zhejiang Province on Monday, then in Shanghai on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Resources continue to be pour into the nation’s massive relief operations even as hopes faded for those still missing more than seven days since the quake struck. Watch how the rescue effort has softened the image of China’s army
So far, almost 60 aid organizations from 13 countries have provided assistance to China in the aftermath of the quake. Among the countries are India, France, Singapore, the Philippines and the United States.
Chinese officials said Monday they had made major progress towards restoring power supplies throughout the quake-damaged region.
Electricity production and distribution has been returned to a level about 80 percent of what it was before the quake, although the four hardest hit counties closest to the epicenter are still without power, an official said. Telecommunication services have been restored to 76 of the 109 townships in the province, another official said.
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