Around 1,000 tourists are still stranded in a remote holiday village after avalanches rocked China’s northern Xinjiang region on Tuesday, hampering rescue.
Avalanches have cut off road access to Hemu hamlet, a scenic destination along the borders of Kazakhstan, Russia, and Mongolia where the tourists have been stuck, for many days.
The settlement is located in Xinjiang’s Altay Prefecture, where continuous snowfall has lasted for 10 days in certain regions.
The severe snowfall produced dozens of avalanches along wide portions of roadways heading to the Kanas picturesque area in the Altay mountains, and several tourists were airlifted to safety.
Avalanches of snow reached heights of up to seven metres in some areas, and in many cases were higher than snow clearance equipment.
The clearing of the 50-kilometre (31-mile) stretch of buried road began a week ago.
Rocks, debris, and tree branches were mingled in the snow and broken off as avalanches rushed down pine and birch forest slopes toward a river valley, rendering rotary snowplough machines ineffective. Rescuers have used shovels and excavators to dig their way out. Because the weather in the mountains varies regularly, the windows for executing supply missions have become increasingly shot.
On Tuesday morning, a military helicopter intended to deliver supplies to Hemu village, such as flour and fuel, was delayed.
Altay highway management authorities stated they have organised 53 workers and 31 sets of machinery and equipment for the rescue and relief efforts.
Zhao Jinsheng, the head of the highway management bureau, stated, “This avalanche situation is relatively special, we have seen such heavy snowfall before, but we have not seen such high frequency of avalanches”.
Zhao predicted that snow-clearing efforts to restore access to Hemu village would take some time due to the high volume of snow on the remaining four kilometres (2.5 miles) of avalanche-damaged road.
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