Day of mourning for China mudslide victims

China on Sunday marked a national day of mourning for more than 1,200 people killed by last week's mudslides, suspending public entertainment and flying flags at half mast. Thousands of rescuers in Zhouqu, in the remote mountain region in Gansu province, stopped search efforts to join in a remembrance ceremony.

Reuters

Mourners, wearing white paper flowers, observed a three-minute silence at 10:00 am local time.

State television broadcast images of about 10,000 people gathered at Tiananmen Square in Beijing early Sunday to watch a flag-raising ceremony while other ceremonies were held across the country.

According to Chinese tradition, the seventh day after a death marks the height of the mourning period.

President Hu Jintao and other top leaders also paid tribute to the victims amid warnings that torrential rains forecast for the coming days could hamper relief efforts, Xinhua said.

Rescue and recovery efforts are ongoing in the north-west Gansu province in the wake of last week's landslides in Zhouqu county.

More than 500 people remain missing, and thousands are in temporary shelters.

The official death toll rose to 1,248 on Sunday from the previously reported 1,239.

Authorities are struggling to keep up with demand for coffins in the devastated region, whose population is one-third Tibetan, the China Daily said.