A truck trapped in the snow storm on Xinjiang-Tibet Highway in northwest China. [Photo: cnr.cn]

Heavy snow in the Ali region in Tibet from early Wednesday till midday Thursday caused severe interruption on the Xinjiang-Tibet Highway, website cnr.cn reported on Friday.

The rescue team from the local armed-police force arrived in time at the snow-stricken areas and brought more than 40 trapped passengers back to safety. Some passengers suffered from the freezing cold and others fell victims to high altitude illnesses.

The snow storm was allegedly the heaviest one this winter so far in the Ali region. With the effort of the rescue team and the road maintenance squadron, traffic was cleared by Friday morning and has gone back to normal.

Armed-police force patrolling the snow-covered section of Xinjiang-Tibet Highway.[Photo: cnr.cn]

(Xinhua News Agency January 12, 2008)