Government news sources in Beijing report that for the past week Ngari region of northwestern Tibet (referred to as Ali by Chinese) has been pounded with heavy snowstorms resulting in approximately 30 cm of accumulation. Putreng County was hit hardest, with meter-thick drifts in places that disabled vital roads connecting townships.
Local Chinese officials claim that more than 60 armed police were able to rescue between 200 and 260 stranded Tibetan villagers who, they assert, were unprepared for the prematurely inclement weather. These included herdsmen and their thousand or so heads of livestock, and all 53 families of Gungtse Village, who were relocated to Horshang Township.
Regional meteorologists anticipate the storms to last until Thursday; no casualties have to date been reported
