Heavy snow in parts of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region over the weekend stranded a large number of tourists and vehicles, prompting an emergency response from local traffic police, which included rescuing trapped individuals and vehicles and implementing traffic controls.
A blizzard struck the Kanas scenic area on Sunday evening, leaving several road sections covered with heavy snow and ice, stranding many tourists and vehicles.
On a steep and sharply curved road section where slippery conditions caused multiple vehicles to slide out of control, traffic police conducted rescue operations with tow trucks.
Police also set up temporary traffic control points at several intersections to direct traffic and facilitate road clearance and vehicle rescue operations.
Local authorities distributed essential supplies such as food and bottled water to tourists stranded on the roads.
After a night of rescue efforts, most stranded vehicles had safely descended the mountain, while some stranded tourists have been accommodated in temporary shelters as they wait for the roads to clear. On Saturday, heavy snowfall hit a provincial highway connecting Burqin County to the Kanas scenic area. The snow reached a depth of 10 centimeters, resulting in 32 vehicles and more than 100 tourists becoming stranded.
Local traffic police rushed to the scene and worked together to tow out the stranded vehicles. After more than six hours of rescue efforts, all trapped individuals and vehicles were safely evacuated.
As of 17:00 on Monday, the snowfall had ceased. Due to severe road icing and significant snow accumulation, traffic controls are still in effect on certain sections, and snow and ice clearance operations are ongoing.
Heavy snow in China's Xinjiang strands tourists, vehicles, triggering emergency rescues
