A bush forest in a small Tibetan county has been on fire since midday Sunday, and the rescue work is extremely difficult because the site has no water supply nearby.

 

Fire broke out at 12:50 PM Sunday in bushes of Tingri County in Xigaze, at the foot of Mount Qomolangma, or the Everest.

 

By midday Monday, the fire had destroyed more than 100 hectares of bushes, an official with the county government told Xinhua in a telephone interview yesterday.

 

The official himself had not been updated about the latest situation, because the fire site is very far from the county seat and has poor access to communication.

 

But he did say that high wind started to beat the bushes at 2:00 PM Monday, which would make the rescue work even more difficult.

 

A forestry team from the Xigaze Prefecture has arrived at the fire site, and the local forestry police and more than 600 voluntary fire fighters are working all-out to put out the fire.

 

(Xinhua News Agency January 4, 2006)