www.chinaview.cn 2008-09-01 17:24:02
(Xinhua is the official press agency of the Communist Party of China)

     LHASA, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- Traffic is expected to resume on 
Tuesday afternoon if weather improves on the mudflow-blocked highway 
between southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region and Sichuan 
Province, said repair workers.

     More than 100 motor vehicles are still stranded by the mudflow 
as of Monday. Chen Falin, an armed police officer in charge of the 
repair work, said about 10,000 cubic meters of mud and rocks had to 
be removed to resume traffic.

     The section of the highway, 10 meters above a river at 
Pailonggou in Nyingchi Prefecture, was damaged on Saturday by mudflow 
caused by heavy rainfall.

     More than 20 armed police had repaired 30 meters of the damaged 
part and evacuated 109 vehicles and 267 people. But the repair work 
was hampered by fresh landslides caused by continuous rainfall.

     August is a rainy season in the area, and rainfall has increased 
by 30 percent in the first half of this year over normal.
Editor: Gao