2008-05-19 周一 阴 英语文章

BEIJING, China (CNN) -- China has announced three days of national mourning as the death toll from last week's devastating earthquake mounted and rescue workers continued to search for survivors among the rubble.


A woman grieves for her lost mother in Beichuan, in China's southwest Sichuan province.

1 of 3more photos »  By Sunday evening, the official death toll rose to 32,477, according to state-run media Sunday. Another 220,109 were wounded in the major quake, the Xinhua news agency said.

Few hopeful relatives were seen in Beichuan, near the quake's epicenter, with soldiers finding many more bodies among the ruins of buildings, The Associated Press reported. Aid teams sprinkled lime on the bodies and disinfected the area.

Wu Hai, a rescue team leader from neighboring Yunnan province, said bodies were decomposing and "many of the limbs are broken off."

"There are definitely many more here. Locals here said several thousands have been buried here," he told The Associated Press.

But there were a few tales of rescues even six days after the disaster: at least 64 people have been pulled alive from debris.

A 53-year-old man was rescued in Yingxiu town in Wenchuan county near the epicenter 148 hours after the quake, Xinhua said Sunday. The effort took eight hours, the news agency said.

Several others were rescued Saturday by Chinese soldiers, their hands stained with blood from days of digging. More than 4,000 troops were sent to the disaster areas in Wenchuan.