A soldier from the Armed Police Force drives an excavator to open a temporary path in heaps of rocks and mud on the Sichuan-Tibet highway, July 27, 2009. Persistent heavy rains triggered a violent mud-rock flow in the Bomi district, southeastern Tibet, blocking the highway. Shortly after, the police started an emergency-response mechanism and rushed a rescue team of over 20 people, excavators and loaders to the site. The path needs at least 20 hours to finish and traffic may be possible till after July 28 depending on weather conditions, photo from Xinhua.
 
Soldiers from the Armed Police Force start heavy-duty machines to remove pieces of huge rocks blocking the Sichuan-Tibet highway, July 27, 2009, photo from Xinhua.
 
An Armed Police Force man rations out food to travellers who are stopped by a violent rock-mud flow on the Sichuan-Tibet highway on July 27, 2009, photo from Xinhua.