Wenchuan Earthquake Update - China holds 3 days of national mourning for quake victims. Rescue efforts dim. Aftershocks.
The Chinese government has declared the dates May 19-21 as the national days of mourning for the victims of the May 12 Earthquake that rocked Sichuan Province and its neighboring provinces which has claimed more than 32,000 lives so far. The Olympic torch relay has also been suspended during the mourning period. Rescue efforts become dim as the second week of China’s worst disaster in many generations approaches and dozens of aftershocks have been felt throughout the region furthering the damage and diminishing the possibilities of rescue to the few remaining survivors in some of the devastated areas. China’s state run news agency, Xinhua, reported that a magnitude 6 aftershock last Sunday killed 3 people, injured 1,000 more and caused further damage to houses and roads.
The World Health Organization has urged health, relief and rescue officials not to be distracted by the false belief that corpses were a health threat and instead focus on the survivors which are in current lack of clean water, food and medical supplies. WHO also warned of the spread of epidemics.