Rescue underway for over 800 trapped by floods in Xinjiang

The locals dam up at a village of Alaer city in the upper reaches of the Tarim River, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, July 30, 2010. The Tarim River was hit by the largest flood in eight years on Friday. (Xinhua/Wang Zhiqing)

Rescuers were racing to evacuate more than 800 people still trapped by rain-triggered mountain torrents in a remote valley in China's far west Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region late Friday afternoon.

Rescuers managed to reach the site in Kuqa County, of Aksu Prefecture, at 1:26 a.m. Friday, about 24 hours after rains and floods stranded more than 1,000 residents, construction workers and tourists in the mountainous area.

As of 5 p.m. Friday, more than 170 trapped people, including 120 tourists and some 50 railway construction workers, had been taken to safe places. No casualties had been reported, said a spokesman with the prefecture's committee of the Communist Party of China.

Some 100 more rescuers, carrying drinking water, drugs and food, had been sent to the site. The regional government had dispatched helicopters to drop food and bottled water to the trapped people, said the spokesman.

Floods have inundated many roads, as well as damaged three bridges and 12 buildings in the county. More than 13,000 youths from the county were ready to strengthen the dikes to combat flood waters, he said.

Source: Xinhua