About 4,000 tourists have returned safely to their hotels after a mountain flood left them stranded -- many in their buses -- over Tuesday night near a popular scenic spot in northwest China.

 

The flood triggered by heavy rains washed out and destroyed more than 30 meters of mountain road linking Kanas, a geological park, to Burqin County, almost 1,000 kilometers north of Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, at about 7:00 PM on Tuesday.

 

More than 200 tourist buses were cut off about 100 kilometers from the park, according to sources from the park administration. The nationalities of the tourists have not been confirmed and no casualties were reported.

 

Some of the tourists were moved to nearby government buildings. A temporary bridge was set up for some buses and local workers were mobilized to repair the ruined road overnight.

 

The tourists had adequate supplies of food and water, said Ling Xiating, an official with Burqin county government.

 

By Wednesday afternoon, all the tourists had returned to their hotels and the Kanas park has resumed operating as normal.

 

(China Daily July 19, 2007)