A total of 200 Chinese rescue workers have been buried by mudslides in the past three days, it was announced today.

China's state Xinhua news agency said the workers from the Transport Ministry were buried while repairing damaged roads. Officials are still counting how many have been killed.

The news emerged as China marked the start of a three-day grief period for victims of the Sichuan quake with a three-minute silence.

At 2.28pm, exactly one week after a 7.9-magnitude earthquake devastated the country’s southwest provinces, the country stood silent as it grieved for the 70,000 people believed to have died under the rubble.

All public recreational activities have been suspended, the Olympic torch relay has been delayed and national flags are to be flown at half mast.

Internet entertainment websites have been ordered to redirect users to commemorative earthquake sites and theatres, cinemas, and nightclubs have canceled or postponed performances.

It is the first time that China’s “ordinary” citizens have been honoured in this way.

In Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, hundreds of people gathered for the three minutes of silence. Beforehand, they lined up to take photos of the flag at half-mast.

“This is the first time I’ve seen our flag like this,” said a 61-year-old man. “Before, this would never have happened for us ordinary people.

“But now, seeing the flag down for the people of Sichuan, we know we are all equal.”

As the crowd fell silent, some sobbed and some prayed. Across the city, car horns blared. “It was a magnificent sight,” said Ma Zhangqing, 43, after. “I wanted to cry.”

But as huge speakers announced the period of silence over, the throng erupted into chants of “Come on, Sichuan! Long live China!” They crushed in towards the flagpole and pumped their fists in the air, screaming the words until their voices cracked.

The outburst comes on the back of a wave of nationalist sentiment in China, as the country stands up to the perceived wrath of the western world over Tibet.

But Meng Mei, a 20-year-old student leading the chanting, insisted that this was not nationalism. “Wherever they are from, everybody wants their country to be great.

“Everybody wants to support their country. It’s something that we all feel in our hearts. I am not a nationalist. This is all for Sichuan.”

Donations to the stricken region from home and abroad have already topped 10.834 billion yuan (795 million GBP). But Beijing today appealed to the international community for more tents for the estimated 4.8 million survivors left homeless.

In the past week, the bad news from Sichuan province and the surrounding quake zone has not let up. The confirmed death toll rose by another 2,000 today to 34,073 and is expected to reach 50,000, although it could be much higher. The Sichuan government said today that more than 71,000 people were dead, buried or missing. 254,000 people are reported injured.

Donations to the region from home and abroad have already topped 10.834 billion yuan (795 million GBP). But Beijing today appealed to the international community for more tents for the estimated 4.8 million survivors left homeless.

A vast rescue effort by thousands of volunteers and 150,000 People’s Liberation Army and police officers has been hampered by dire weather and almost 150 aftershocks measuring 4 or more on the Richter scale. A 5.9-magnitude aftershock early yesterday morning killed three people and injured one thousand.

“It’s a tragedy,” said Tian Quanyou, a 46-year-old taxi driver parked on the side of Tiananmen Sqaure to observe the silence. “If only 80 or so people had died, then that would be ok. “But 50,000…anyone who isn’t moved by that has something wrong with their hearts.”

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