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Rescuers aim to reach hundreds stranded Thursday
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-08-04 20:17
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URUMQI - Rescuers are hoping to reach 420 geological workers trapped in the mountains of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Thursday, a week after floods cut transport links to the area.
Continuous floods and high winds sweeping at up to 100 kilometers per hour had hampered rescue work, said Ili Ismail, an official with the regional government and head of the emergency rescue team.
As of Wednesday, rescuers were still unable to approach the flooded Ruoqiang county in the Mongolian autonomous prefecture of Bayingolin, he said.
The workers have been trapped in an area more than 400 km from Ruoqiang's county seat, where the altitude is between 3,500 and 5,000 meters, since July 29.
The workers were among 455 people -- 450 from the Northeastern Jilin province and five from Xinjiang -- stranded by flood waters from the Altun Mountains while digging for mineral deposits at four locations, the official said.
The other 35 workers were found by locals Tuesday, said Mahmuti Uzman, chief of Ruoqiang county.
The workers were in contact with rescuers through mobile phones. They had food and other supplies for at least three more days, said Ili Ismail.
But the regional weather bureau's forecast of a new heatwave from Thursday came as a bad omen for rescue work, as the heat would speed up thawing of perennial snow on mountains in the south of Xinjiang, including the Altun.
The weather bureau said the high temperatures in the south and east of Xinjiang would exceed 37 degrees Celsius from Thursday to Saturday. In some areas, the mercury could climb to 40, said Chen Chunyan, the chief weatherman at the regional meteorological station.
