New Delhi: A 61-year-old quake victim was rescued on Monday morning after being trapped under the rubble for 164 hours in Beichuan city in China’s Sichuan province. Chinese Sichuan TV aired visuals of firefighters struggling for hours to rescue the woman who was then taken by ambulance to a hospital for medical treatment.

Beichuan was one of the worst hit by the earthquake. Officials confirmed that over 32,000 people died in the quake, but say the final toll may rise to 50,000. More than 220,000 people have been injured.

China ground to a halt for three minutes on Monday as cars, trains and ships sounded their horns in a “wail of grief” to mourn the dead from last week's earthquake.

Flags flew at half-staff and the country stopped at 1428 hours Beijing time for a period of reflection as thousands gathered in Tiananmen Square and stock trading halted in Shanghai and Shenzhen.

In Sichuan province, the worst affected, more than 9,500 are still buried in collapsed buildings and 29,418 other people are missing, state-run Xinhua News Agency said.

China also asked international donors to issue an appeal for tents to house survivors after officials said they are drawing up plans to feed as many as 10 million people for three months.