Fire fighters have brought under control a high-altitude fire in a remote county in eastern Tibet Autonomous Region, sources with local police said on Monday.

 

 

The blaze began around 3:00 PM Saturday in a forest located at an altitude of 3,800 meters in Gyanmda, a mountainous county in Qamdo, and spread rapidly. The area was almost inaccessible due to a lack of roads and heavy smoke, local authorities said.

 

More than 1,000 people, including police and local residents, were enlisted to put out the fire.

 

The exact area of forest affected by the fire is still unknown.

 

No casualties were reported, nor was any damage reported. The cause of the fire remains unclear.

 

On March 18, fire fighters extinguished a high-altitude fire in Qamdo Prefecture. It had lasted for five days and engulfed more than 46 hectares of virgin forest.

 

(Xinhua News Agency March 27, 2007)