Vehicles struggle with snow and ice on a highway linking Tibet with the neighboring province of Sichuan in Nyingchi, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, March 31, 2009. [Ye Hui/Xinhua]

An avalanche halted traffic on the highway linking Tibet Autonomous Region and neighboring Sichuan Province on Wednesday.

Local police received calls from residents about snow blocking the road around 2:00 p.m.. Rescue teams were then sent to the site, which is 730 kilometers away from Lhasa.

Traffic is expected to start flowing again at 8:30 p.m., police said.

The highway has been affected by snow several times since March 20.

An accident on another section of the same highway, about 770 kilometers away from Lhasa, also disrupted traffic Wednesday, said Chen Jun, a local traffic police officer.

A bus with 30 passengers aboard went into the ditch. No injuries were reported. The road was snowy at the time of the accident.

According to China's Central Meteorological Observatory, snow and rain hit Qinghai-Tibet Plateau starting Tuesday morning. It lasted until Wednesday. Precipitation was between 1 - 7 millimeters.

Snow is expected to continue over the next three days, the observatory predicted.