Olympic torch relay in Ruijin starts with a minute of silence to quake victims

RUIJIN, Jiangxi Province, April 14 (Xinhua) -- The Olympic torch relay in Ruijin of Jiangxi Province started with a minute of silence to the victims of the deadly earthquake in southwest China's Sichuan province on Wednesday.

All the people in the opening ceremony of the Ruijin relay observed a minute of silence to the victims of the strong quake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale which struck Wenchuan at 2:28 p.m. on Monday.

The tremor was felt in many other parts of the country. The disaster had caused more than 12,000 reported deaths by Tuesday evening in Sichuan alone.

The torch relay organizers started to accept cash donations to the quake victims on Tuesday in Ruijin Hotel.

The Ruijin journey started a simplified relay in the Red Army Square of Yeping.

Liu Jiaqi, 95 and a Red Army veteran, is the oldest torchbearer so far. Qiu Lixing, 15, is one of the youngest runners in Ruijin and he will donate his torch to China's Red Cross for auction.

Qiu, born with a heart problem, received a heart surgery funded by a charity donation.

"I decided to donate my torch to China's Red Cross for auction, who has helped me a lot over years," said Qiu on Tuesday.

"The auction can be used to help the earthquake sufferers."