Great Wall snowstorm survivors treated in N China

SHIJIAZHUANG - Two survivors of a snowstorm that left three Japanese tourists dead in north China over the weekend were transferred to a county hospital on Tuesday for further examination, local authorities said.

The two people, including a 59-year-old Japanese woman and a Chinese tour guide, are suffering from frostbite but are in stable condition, according to the government of Huailai county in North China's Hebei province.

The bodies of the three dead will be taken to a funeral home Tuesday night, local officials said.

County police received a report at 11:15 pm. Saturday stating that five people had become trapped on the Great Wall near the village of Hengling after a strong snowstorm swept north Beijing and neighboring Hebei.

The county government then dispatched 40 people, including medical personnel, to search for the trapped.

Jing Qingyu, the county's Communist Party of China (CPC) chief, said 20 military personnel and four vehicles were dispatched Sunday morning to aid in rescue efforts.

Rescuers found the two survivors Sunday. The bodies of the three deceased were retrieved by Monday.

Rescuers were hampered by deep snow on the road leading to the area where the five were trapped, said Wang Jianjun, deputy head of the county government.

It took about 10 hours for rescuers to reach the trapped tourists, said Wang, adding that 12 of the rescuers suffered frostbite or other injuries as a result of exposure.

Beijing and Hebei were hit by a blizzard over the weekend that brought record amounts of precipitation. Snow fell in Huailai for nearly 30 hours, bringing temperatures down to negative 9 degrees Celsius.