An avalanche killed one tourist and injured another seven, including two seriously, in southwest China's Yunnan Province Wednesday afternoon, said a local official.

 

The avalanche occurred at about 3:00?PM on Wednesday in a scenic spot of the Meili Snow Mountain, about 10 km northeast of Deqen County in the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Deqen in Yunnan, said Tashi Toinzhub, head of the Deqen County.

 

Rescuers had to first carried the injured people to a village about two hours' walk from the scenic spot to receive medical treatment, because there is no highway linking the spot with the county seat, he said.

 

No one is missing in the accident, he said.

 

More than 300 people, including police officers, armed soldiers, medical workers and tourist officials, have been mobilized for the rescue operation, he said.

 

Meili Snow Mountain, about 800 km northwest of the Yunnan provincial capital of Kunming, is a well-known scenic spot that separates Yunnan from Tibet.

 

It has 13 peaks whose average altitudes all exceed 6,000 meters, with the highest reaching 6,740 meters.

 

(Xinhua News Agency May 3, 2007)