586 people rescued from gale-force blizzard

Urumqi (CNS) – A force-ten gale accompanied by snow struck Mayitasi, a notorious windy zone in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, February 4. Visibility was gauged to be less than three meters during the storm. Snow blew into drifts that made roads impassable, trapping dozens of cars approximately 68 miles away from provincial highway S201.

Recognizing a dangerous situation, the Emin office of Tacheng Highway Administration Bureau immediately dispatched rescue teams to the site.

After a rescue operation that lasted 13 hours, 586 persons and 96 vehicles were released and directed to the nearby village of Tiechangou in county Emin.

Mayitasi is a notorious windy zone in Xinjiang, and is known as one of the rare micro-climates also frequently troubled by snowstorms. Gale force winds accompanied by snow create blizzards that often render driving conditions extremely dangerous or impossible.