Around 1,100 people have been called up to join the search for
six Russian tourists who were reported missing late last month in a
canoeing trip on a river in northwest China's Xinjiang, but no clues have been found, local
authorities said Sunday.
By Sunday evening, the searchers, including armed police, local
farmers and herdsman, had combed a total of 406 kilometers of the
middle and lower reaches of the Yurungkax River in southern
Xinjiang, an official with Hotan Prefecture told Xinhua late Sunday
night.
More than 300 people from Yutian County, located in the upper
reaches of the river, have also searched 80 kilometers of the
river, the official said.
The six Russians flew to Urumqi, the regional capital of
Xinjiang, on August 11 and then flew to Hotan. They later arrived
by bus at Pulu Village, Yutian County, where the Yurungkax River
originates, according to Zhang Hong, a local Russian-language
interpreter for the missing Russians.
According to the original plan, the expedition team would arrive
at the banks of the Yurungkax River that flows through Hotan on
August 20. They would start canoeing the next day towards Cele and
finish at Kashitashi Township in Hotan County, 30 km from Hotan
City, where they would meet Zhang.
However, the six Russians failed to show up on September 2 as
agreed.
A special eight-member search and rescue team has also left Pulu
Village for the starting site of the canoe trip. The estimated
arrival time is two days, the Hotan official said.
But as the source of the river is 5,000 to 6,000 meters above
sea level with rugged and mountainous roads, the searching would be
"extremely difficult", the official added.
Helicopters scheduled to arrive in Hotan on Sunday to join the
search and rescue efforts have been delayed due to weather
conditions. They will arrive on Monday.
(Xinhua News Agency September 10, 2007)