Hundreds missing in Chinese snowstorms

The Chinese authorities say more than two-hundred families of nomadic herdsmen have been reported missing in the north-western province of Qinghai, after months of heavy snowfalls.

Officials say about seven thousand people have been injured, and tens of thousands of animals have been killed with temperatures falling to as low as minus-forty degrees centigrade.

Troops have been sent in to carry out relief work.

Similar weather conditions have also been reported from neighbouring Tibet where the Chinese authorities have allocated about three million dollars in aid.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service