About 1,000 Tourists Trapped in China’s Xinjiang After Avalanches

About 1,000 Tourists Trapped in China’s Xinjiang After Avalanches
A road blocked by snow in Altay Prefecture in northwestern China's Xinjiang Region on Jan. 16, 2024. (CCTV via AP)
Reuters
1/17/2024
Updated:
1/17/2024
0:00

BEIJING—Around 1,000 tourists remain stranded in a remote holiday village after avalanches hit China’s northwestern Xinjiang region with meters-high snow, 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.

The heavy snowfall triggered dozens of avalanches along large sections of highways in the Altay mountains leading to the Kanas scenic area, Chinese state media outlets reported over the weekend.

Snow brought by the avalanches reached as high as seven meters in some parts and in many, was higher than snow clearing equipment, CCTV said.