Mudslide-disrupted highway partly reopens in Xinjiang

Traffic on a national highway in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region partly resumed at 10:46 a.m. on Tuesday morning, more than 12 hours after services on the route were disrupted by a mudslide, according to local troops involved in the clear-up operation.

The rain-triggered mudslide occurred at 10:10 p.m. on Monday on a section of the No. 314 National Highway in Akto county in Kezilesu Kirgiz autonomous prefecture, said Zhou Bing, a soldier working at the site.

Zhou said that more than 30 meters of the road were buried by 1,000 cubic meters of rocks, which caused the stranding of more than 300 vehicles.

No casualties have been reported.

Soldiers, officials and workers from the highway department have been making effort to clear the road overnight, and one-way traffic on the blocked section of highway resumed on Tuesday morning.