Chinese president pays silent tribute to quake victims

BEIJING, April 21 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao on Wednesday paid a silent tribute in Beijing to the victims of the earthquake in northwest China.

The other eight members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee also joined Hu to mourn the victims.

National flags flew at half-mast at government agencies in the Chinese capital on Wednesday and all public entertainment was suspended.

At Tian'anmen Square in downtown Beijing, thousands of people watched the national flag hoisted to full height and then lowered to half-mast at about 5:33 a.m..

The 7.1-magnitude quake that struck Yushu, northwest China's Qinghai Province, last week had left 2,064 dead and 175 people still missing as of Tuesday. The quake had also left 12,135 injured, of whom 1,434 were in serious condition.