10,000 die of Aids in San Francisco

San Francisco (Reuter) - Flags were to fly at half-mast over San Francisco City Hall yesterday to commemorate the 10,000 people who have died of Aids in the city, officials said. The city's 10,000th death since the epidemic broke out in 1981 was reported on Thursday morning, public health officials said. The identity of the person was not disclosed.

'Today is a very sad day in San Francisco, now that we've reached a milestone of 10,000 deaths from Aids . . . We must continue the fight for prevention, treatment, education and compassion,' said the mayor, Frank Jordan. He said he had ordered flags over City Hall to be lowered to half-mast on Friday and also called for five minutes of silence in the city.