265 Chinese trapped in flood-hit NW Pakistan all rescued
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All the Chinese trapped in the flood-hit Pakistan's northwest province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have been evacuated to safe places with the assistance of the Pakistani side, said Liu Jian, Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan on Monday.
According to Liu, a total of 265 Chinese workers and engineers working at a hydro power station project in the Patan area of Kohistan District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were trapped on a mountain after a huge landslide triggered by floods and torrential rains washed across their work site on July 29.
Three Chinese engineers and workers went missing after they were reportedly washed away by the flood water and landslide while working inside a tunnel.
The trapped Chinese who retreated up to a nearby mountain surrounded by the flood water suffered a great deal as they were in serious lack of food and water and had to fight the coldness of living in the open atop a mountain lashed by torrential rains.
Upon hearing the news of the Chinese trapped in the flood-hit area of northwest Pakistan, the Chinese embassy immediately kicked off an emergency rescue operation under the assistance of the Pakistani government, army and police.
Three military helicopters were dispatched to the site where the Chinese were trapped for the rescue work. Large numbers of troops and police forces were mobilized as well. The Chinese ambassador together with his embassy colleagues also rushed to the site from Islamabad on July 31 by fighting the difficulties on the disrupted roads leading to Patan.
After nearly five days of cocerted efforts by the Chinese and Pakistani sides, all the Chinese trapped on the mountain in the Patan area had been evacuated to safe places as of late Monday afternoon, said Liu Jian, adding that the search operation for the three missing Chinese is still underway.
However, the chance for the survial of the three missing Chinese is very slim, said Pakitani police officers who are involved in the search operation.
