Two Japan tourists die in Great Wall storm: Beijing
Monday, November 05, 2012, 16:14 GMT+7
Two elderly Japanese tourists died and another was missing after being trapped in sudden heavy snowstorms during a visit to the Great Wall of China, Beijing said Monday.
Two women, aged 62 and 68, were confirmed dead, and a 76-year-old Japanese man remained missing on a snow-covered mountain near the wall in China's northern Hebei province.
Another Japanese tourist and a Chinese man who works for a Japanese tour agency were receiving medical treatment at a local clinic.
"Four Japanese tourists were trapped by bad weather," foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at a press briefing in Beijing.
"So far, one Japanese tourist was rescued, two died, and one is still missing.
"The rescue work for the missing tourist is still going on. The competent Chinese authorities will continue to follow the case closely, to treat the injured, and handle the follow-up work related to the victims."
The group started to climb the mountain from the Beijing side as part of a tour of the Great Wall on Saturday morning, state news agency Xinhua said.
They were trapped overnight on Saturday after reaching a mountainous region in Huailai county in the neighbouring province of Hebei.
The bodies of the two dead tourists were found sometime after 7 pm (1100 GMT) on Sunday night.
In Tokyo, Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said Japan was working with China and would "provide all necessary and possible assistance for the protection of Japanese nationals".
"We are grateful for the Chinese cooperation," he told reporters.
Heavy snowstorms swept across northern China over the weekend, with the most extreme weather hitting Beijing, Hebei and the northern Inner Mongolia region on Saturday night.
Beijing was forced to issue its second-highest blizzard alert on Sunday after the Chinese capital was hit by an unusually early snowstorm.
In the 24 hours until Sunday morning the city saw 5.8 centimetres (2.3 inches) of precipitation -- rain and snow combined -- Xinhua said.
Hundreds of cars were stuck in the snow across China's capital over the weekend.
Authorities activated Beijing's public heating ahead of the planned November 15 date, the state-run China Daily said.
