Beijing  - China on Monday began three days of national mourning for victims of last week's earthquake in the south-western province of Sichuan, where more than
32,500 people were confirmed dead and thousands remained missing.

The national flag was lowered to half-staff early Monday at the daily flag-raising ceremony in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, the symbolic heart of the Chinese capital.

The government has asked China's 1.3 billion people to stand for three minutes of silence at 2:28 pm (0628 GMT), exactly one week after the earthquake struck.

Air-raid sirens and car, train and ship horns are to sound at the end of the three-minute silence.

Some television presenters and other people wore white, blue or black clothes to symbolize their mourning.

The government on Sunday announced the suspension of the Olympic torch relay and all public entertainment during the three days of mourning.

China's overseas diplomatic missions were told to observe the silence and open books of condolence.

Officials said Sunday that at least 9,000 people were still buried in rubble after the earthquake, which Chinese government seismologists on Sunday upgraded to 8 on the Richter scale.

Thousands of other people were still out of contact with authorities, and the government has warned that the final death toll is likely to be more than 50,000.

About 5 million people lost their homes and more than 220,000 were injured. (dpa)