Six mountaineers were stranded by heavy snowfall on 3,756-meter-high Mt. Demirkazik in Turkey's central province of Nigde, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported on Tuesday.

One of the mountaineers was rescued by the gendarmerie teams and was brought to a mountain hut, Anatolia quoted a local official as reporting.

Three of them were reported injured and stranded in the east part of the mountain, while two mountaineers were waiting in a safe area on 3,400-meter-high altitude, the report said.

The mountaineers were all members of a mountaineering club of the Middle East Technical University (METU).

Two military helicopters, 13 gendarmerie rescue officers, about 40 members of Turkey Search and Rescue Association (AKUT) and METU mountaineering club are joining the rescue efforts.

(Xinhua News Agency January 4, 2007)