Police in southwest Tibet said Wednesday that they have rescued the 40 people who were trapped for hours on a snow-covered highway 5,000 meters above sea level.
Heavy snow since Tuesday buried a 100-km section of a highway in Zhongba county in Ngari prefecture, stranding 40 people in four vehicles, said Zheng Jinshui, the police officer who led the 18-strong rescue team.
The rescuers received a call for help from those trapped at around 3 p.m. and drove for three hours to the scene.
The temperature at the site was minus 30 degrees Celsius and snow was still falling, Zheng said, adding that traffic police had closed the snow-coated section due to safety concerns.
