BEIJING (Reuters) - Around 1,000 tourists remain stranded in a remote holiday village after avalanches hit China's northwestern Xinjiang region with metres-high snow and fickle weather impeding evacuation, state TV reported on Tuesday.
Road access to Hemu village, a scenic destination near the borders of Kazakhstan, Russia and Mongolia where the tourists were trapped, has been cut off by avalanches for several days now.
The village is situated in Xinjiang's Altay Prefecture where continuous snowfall in some areas has lasted 10 days, it said.
Snow brought by the avalanches reach as high as seven metres in some parts and in many, was higher than snow clearing equipment, CCTV said.
A military helicopter scheduled to send supplies - such as flour and fuel - to Hemu village was delayed on Tuesday morning, CCTV said.
Persons:
Snow, Zhao Jinsheng, Zhao, Liz Lee, Qiaoyi Li, Raju Gopalakrishnan
Locations:
BEIJING, Xinjiang, Kazakhstan, Russia, Mongolia, Xinjiang's Altay Prefecture, Altay, Hemu