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CCTV correspondent witnesses Obama´s inauguration

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CCTV correspondent in Washington, Zhu Hua, who witnessed Obama's inauguration.(CCTV.com)
CCTV correspondent in Washington, Zhu Hua, who witnessed
Obama's inauguration.(CCTV.com)

Q2: The inauguration ceremony and the afternoon parade went smoothly and perfectly. However, Senator Edward Kennedy experienced a seizure during the inauguration luncheon and Senator Robert Byrd fell ill, probably due to his advancing age.

For an overall situation in Washington DC, generally speaking, everything just went well with intensive security measures at an unprecedented level.

At least 15 million US dollars of federal funds have been spent for security purpose. Authorities formed a security force of more than 40,000 people. The number surpasses the 31,000 troops serving in Afghanistan and is undoubtedly the most-manned inaugural security plan to date.

However, that number is no comparison to the amount of millions of visitors from around the nation thronging here in Washington DC. People who lined up in long queues for security check at entrances to the inauguration ceremony were counted not by hundreds, but by thousands, or even more.

Fortunately, no stampede happened. However, the huge crowds do put the city's transportation system to its most severe test in decades, and a mishap was reported at a subway station.

At the L'Enfant Plaza stop, a passenger was reported falling down the platform and hit by a coming train. The cause of the incident and situation of the passenger is not known so far.

And this morning during my ride in the subway, I saw half of the door of a train car was gone, apparently broken by the thronging crowds. Expect for that, everything is just fine, with no other incident reported.

 

Editor:Zhang Pengfei

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