Xinjiang Snowfall Rescue Reports ProgressThe Chinese government is trying every possible way to help herdsmen stranded by blizzards in northern parts of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region get through the frigid winter.The central government has allocated 57 million yuan in relief funds and raised another 29 million yuan from all social sectors for the affected areas. To date, all the funds and relief materials have been sent to Altay, Tacheng and other afflicted areas. Each herdsman of the Kazak nationality in Altay receives 13 kilograms of flour and certain amounts of meat from the local government each month. Medical teams have been sent to Qinghe County, a seriously-hit area in Altay, to treat frostbite and other disease at the homes of herdsmen. Eighteen bulldozers are working day and night to clean snow on highway and roads leading to grasslands. The snowfall is the heaviest in the Altay area in the past 50 years. The lowest temperature in the disaster-torn areas was 45 degrees minus Celsius, and the depth of the snow has reached 70 centimeters in plain areas and 2.5 meters in mountainous areas, according to local meteorological sources. Blizzards have claimed the lives of 13 people and more than 100, 000 livestock and crushed 16,000 houses in Xinjiang. |
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