Jojo Doria - AHN
Beijing, China (AHN) - Beijing Olympic organizers announced Tuesday that the continuing Olympic torch relay will be downscaled and will start Wednesday's leg with a minute of silence in the city of Ruijin of Jiangxi province, in sympathy for thousands who perished in a massive earthquake in central China.
Organizers have decided to switch to a somber relay amidst mounting pressure for a moratorium for at least a month as the Olympic flame is scheduled to enter the ravaged province of Sichuan. On Monday, an earthquake registering a high 7.9 magnitude rocked the Wenchuan County with at least 12, 000 people reportedly dead in the Sichuan province, the epicenter of the quake.
Organizing committee spokesman Sun Wiede said that the torch relay will proceed as scheduled but with less pomp and fewer speeches until it reaches the affected areas, while asking people along the routes to contribute to the relief efforts in the province. The Olympic torch is expected to enter Sichuan on June 15 following its stop in the city of Chongquing. In Sichuan, it will make seven stops including Mianyang and neighboring Beichuan where around 1,000 students and teachers are believed to have perished after a high school building collapsed during the quake.
Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG) media director Li Zhanjuan added that the Olympic torch relay routes as earlier scheduled by both the International Olympic Committee and the BOCOG will proceed as planned until further instructions are received by his committee.
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