(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-05-20 08:55

Foreign rescue teams in the quake-hit Sichuan province paused their work Monday afternoon to join the Chinese in observing the three-minute silence in remembrance of earthquake victims.

An American volunteer stands next to a Chinese boy in Hanwang, Sichuan province, on Monday, as they observe three minutes' silence for victims of the quake. [Agencies]

According to a reporter who accompanied the Japanese rescuers, the rescue team lined up for the ceremony that began at 2:28 pm on the debris of a middle school in Beichuan county, one of the worst hit areas.

This is the first time China has cooperated with international rescuers in disaster relief at home.

Foreign rescuers have been toiling day and night in the quake-stricken areas in the past few days.

The Japanese rescue team had lined up on Saturday to pay homage to a young woman and her 75-day-old baby, whose bodies they unearthed from the rubble in Qingchuan county. The Japanese team and their Chinese colleagues have recovered 18 bodies.

On the site of a former dormitory building in Dujiangyan, the heavy machinery paused yesterday afternoon, as Russian rescue team members joined the Chinese in mourning.

The Russian team has saved one woman, who had been buried for 127 hours in the rubble, and found the bodies of four.

More than 200 rescuers from Japan, Russia, South Korea and Singapore are in Sichuan to help with rescue and relief operations.

Xinhua-China Daily