Foreigners cut off by China quake

Thousands of tourists attracted to Sichuan's beauty were hit by the quake

Nearly 900 foreign tourists are stranded in quake-hit regions of China, the national tourism authority says.

A spokesman told AFP news agency that the precise location and nationalities of the stranded visitors were unclear, but that they were believed to be safe.

Earlier on Thursday, 33 British, French and American tourists were flown out of a panda reserve in the quake zone.

Thousands of Chinese tourists are also reportedly cut off following Monday's quake, which killed at least 15,000.

A massive operation centring on Sichuan province is under way to try to rescue some 26,000 people feared to be trapped under the rubble.

Tourists 'safe'

The China National Tourism Administration says figures from travel agencies suggest 893 foreign and 2,601 domestic tourists remain stranded in the quake-hit region.

"According to investigations, they are safe," a spokesman told AFP.

"If we find them, we will contact local disaster relief control to help them. But the telecommunications network has still not resumed, so it will take time," he added.

The authority said it hoped 2,517 tourists - including 682 foreigners - would be evacuated on Thursday, AFP reported.

Other reports suggest the number of domestic tourists stranded in the region is much higher.

More than 50 tourists - including 35 people in a coach buried by a landslide - are confirmed dead in Jiuzhaigou, state news agency Xinhua reported.

'Horrendous noise'

Earlier, 33 British, American and French tourists were airlifted out of the giant panda reserve in Wolong to the Sichuanese capital, Chengdu.

[The pandas] must have sensed something was wrong Diane Etkins British tourist in China

Later, one of the British evacuees, Barry Jackson, explained that the tour party had been waiting for a glimpse of a giant panda when the earthquake struck.

"Suddenly we had this horrendous noise which is - well you can't describe what it's like - it's like a huge, huge noise and the land's shaking beneath you and the first thing that we all though to do was to run," Mr Jackson said.

Another, Diane Etkins, said the pandas' behaviour changed in the moments leading up to the earthquake.

"They'd been really lazy and just eating a little bit of bamboo and all of a sudden they were sort of parading round their pen.

"Looking back, they must have sensed something was wrong," she said.