China’s Day of Mourning
Shubha Bala, associate producer
On Wednesday, China declared an official day of mourning for the victims of the earthquake last week in a remote Tibetan region in the Qinghai province. At least 2,183 people have been killed in the earthquake, and 84 people are still missing.
The government shut down many entertainment activities including karaoke bars and online gaming sites. Search engines and newspapers were black and white for the day. And all TV stations could only broadcast state media of the rescue efforts for the entire day.
Image to the right: residents, rescuers, troops, and officials observed three minutes of silence at 10 a.m. on Wednesday in Xinig, the capital of the province that experienced the quake. (photo: AFP/Getty Images)
Students at a school in Hefei, in central China’s Anhui province, hold a candlelight vigil to mourn victims of the earthquake. (photo: AFP/Getty Images)
Students line up for a moment of silence. (photo: AFP/Getty Images)
Tibetan monks, wearing rescue mission vests, offer prayers for the day of mourning. The monks say they had been asked to leave the region on Wednesday and that they were absent from the national media on that day. (photo: STR/AFP/Getty Images)
In the lead image, a Xining airport worker grieves while standing in silence to mourn the earthquake victims. (photo: Liu Jin/AFP/Getty Images)
