Sunday, May 18, 2008 - 13:30
AFP News Briefs ListOlympic torch relay halted for three days for quake mourning
The Beijing Olympic torch relay will be halted for three days as part of a national mourning period following a devastating earthquake, Games organisers said Sunday.
The torch relay suspension will begin on Monday, the organising committee said in a statement on its website.
The decision marks the latest setback for the relay, which was supposed to be a months-long celebration of Beijing's hosting of the Olympics but has continually been disrupted.
Pro-Tibet demonstrators disrupted the relay in London, Paris and San Francisco to protest against China's crackdown on unrest in the Himalayan region, which broke out in mid-March and spread to neighbouring regions.
The torch was put out several times in the chaotic relay through Paris.
The flame, which returned to China earlier this month for a three-month national journey ending in Beijing in August, also had to be put out on Saturday when an over-enthusiastic crowd in the eastern city of Wenzhou blocked the relay route, the Beijing Youth Daily reported.
China's Cabinet on Sunday announced three days of national mourning after an estimated 50,000 people died in its worst earthquake in three decades.
Chinese government buildings will fly the national flag at half-mast for the three days starting Monday, it said.
The nation will also observe three minutes of silence at 2:28 pm (0628 GMT) Monday, exactly one week after the earthquake struck southwestern Sichuan province.
The confirmed death toll rose on Sunday to nearly 32,500.
Images
Earthquake survivor Wang Minxing sits on the rubble that used to be his home in the quake-damaged town of Beichuan in Sichuan province on May 18. The Beijing Olympic torch relay will be halted for three days as part of a national mourning period following a devastating earthquake, Olympic organisers have said.
© 2007 AFP Mark Ralston
