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Olympic flame is lit on Everest
Ed Harris, Evening Standard08.05.08
The Olympic flame reached the top of Mount Everest today.
In the latest leg of the torch relay for the Beijing Games, five climbers took part in the final ascent of the world's highest mountain amid strong winds and temperatures of minus 30C.
After a six-hour climb, the torch was lit close to the 29,030ft summit and a mini-relay took place to the top.
The climbers, all wearing red, shouted "Long live Tibet!", "Long live Beijing!" and "Tashi delek" - a Tibetan greeting meaning "may everything be well" - into a TV camera.
They unfurled the flag of China, the Olympic flag and a flag with the Beijing Games logo on it.
The torch was held aloft at the summit by a Tibetan woman, Ciren Wangmu, at 9.16am.
Earlier, in a poignant moment, it had been lit while being held by Ji Ji, 39, whose husband Rena died in 2005 when a rockslide hit his car on the way to climb a mountain in Pakistan. In 1999 Ji Ji and Rena had become only the third married couple to conquer Everest together.
The torch relay has sparked protests around the world over China's human rights record, its presence in Tibet, and its security clampdown after March riots in Tibetan capital Lhasa - where the flame is set to be taken in June.
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