URUMQI - Rescuers in Hejing county in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region on Thursday began search and rescue operations to locate four missing people who may have been buried under snow due to spring snowmelt and collapse.

Local officials said that all four people were from the region's capital city Urumqi. The accident occurred when they were collecting antlers, an important ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine, in Hejing county, which is about 450 km from Urumqi.

The officials explained that because temperatures have been rising, snow and ice in the county has begun to melt and collapse, possibly burying the four missing people.

A group of 32 rescuers started rescue work at 4 am, and the work remains under way.