http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORL ... na.quake/index.html




CNN) -- People across China observed three minutes of silence on Monday as the country began three days of national mourning to honor the victims of last week's massive earthquake.


Children at a mourning ceremony held Monday in quake-hit Qingchuan county, Sichuan province.

more photos » But underscoring the tragedy of last week's disaster, more grim news was reported during the observance: A mud flow had buried more than 200 relief workers in China, China's state media reported Monday.

Car, truck and train horns blared across China starting at 2:28 p.m. (6:28 a.m. GMT) Monday afternoon, exactly a week after a massive earthquake. Traffic halted, work stopped and people bowed their heads for three minutes during the "wail of grief" to observe the moment when their country shook.

The observance erupted into a loud outpouring of emotion among thousands of people in Chengdu, the capital of China's Sichuan province. They ended their 180 seconds of silent observance with shouts of support for the recovery effort.

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.

By Sunday evening, the official death toll rose to 32,477, according to state-run media. Another 220,109 were wounded in the major quake, Xinhua said.