China remembers earthquake victims
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The Associated Press
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mayıs 13, 2009 00:00
BEICHUAN, China - State leaders laid flowers and survivors burned paper money for departed spirits as a mournful China marked the first anniversary yesterday of a devastating earthquake that left nearly 90,000 people dead or missing and 5 million homeless.
Addressing a memorial service before a destroyed school in the Sichuan province town of Yingxiu, President Hu Jintao pledged strengthened support for rebuilding and disaster prevention and efforts toward a "more harmonious relationship between man and nature." "The great task of earthquake rescue and recovery reminds us again that unity is strength, that victory can only be gained through struggle," said Hu, before leading military and civilian leaders, diplomats, students and emergency services workers in laying carnations before a stone memorial.
The 30-minute ceremony followed a minute of silence beginning at 0628 GMT, the moment the magnitude-7.9 temblor - the deadliest quake to hit China in decades - struck on May 12, 2008, burying villages, snapping bridges and razing large portions of Sichuan and other two provinces.
In the nearby county seat of Beichuan, mourners gathered at a destroyed middle school where about 1,000 students and faculty were killed, piling flowers and burning candles and sticks of incense amid the smoke and crackle of exploding firecrackers. Many brought pictures of their dead children and pasted notes to a metal fence surrounding the rubble, including one reading "peace to the dead, strength to the living."
Last year's destruction triggered an outpouring of grief around China and united the country in a massive rescue effort boosted by volunteers, private donations, and international aid. The quake cast a shadow over the Beijing Summer Olympics.
The 30-minute ceremony followed a minute of silence beginning at 0628 GMT, the moment the magnitude-7.9 temblor - the deadliest quake to hit China in decades - struck on May 12, 2008, burying villages, snapping bridges and razing large portions of Sichuan and other two provinces.
In the nearby county seat of Beichuan, mourners gathered at a destroyed middle school where about 1,000 students and faculty were killed, piling flowers and burning candles and sticks of incense amid the smoke and crackle of exploding firecrackers. Many brought pictures of their dead children and pasted notes to a metal fence surrounding the rubble, including one reading "peace to the dead, strength to the living."
Last year's destruction triggered an outpouring of grief around China and united the country in a massive rescue effort boosted by volunteers, private donations, and international aid. The quake cast a shadow over the Beijing Summer Olympics.