16 tourists missing from China's nature reserve

Beijing, Oct 6: Sixteen tourists, camping at the Changtanhe Nature Reserve in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, have lost contact with outsiders and rescuers are searching them, authorities said today.

The 16 campers, mostly from the cities of Liuzhou and Hechi, had arrived at Changtanhe nature reserve on October 2. One of the campers called his wife at 11:56 a.m. yesterday, saying they were trapped in the camping site as the level of a river suddenly rose and were in need of rescue.

Fire brigade of Jinxiu County received a report yesterday about the missing. Efforts are on by the rescuers to trace the missing campers, authorities said. Under the influence of typhoon Mujigae which landed on southern China on Sunday, the county has been battered by rainstorms. The rising river and rugged mountain roads have hindered the rescue, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

PTI