Asia-Pacific

Trapped workers back in China

By Mao Weihua (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-08-09 08:53

URUMQI, China - A group of 192 Chinese workers and engineers rescued from flood-stricken Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan arrived back in China at the Urumqi airport on Saturday evening.

A total of 192 Chinese workers and engineers rescued from flooding in Pakistan returned to China on Saturday on a China Southern Airlines chartered plane. Zhao Ge / Xinhua News Agency

The crew had been trapped in the flood for five days.

Due to the poor weather in Pakistan, the plane waited at Urumqi International Airport for more than 30 hours before heading to Islamabad on Saturday afternoon.

"I feel very excited," said Feng Yong, one of the engineers, who expressed his gratitude to everyone involved in his rescue.

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An engineer named Mi, who had worked in Pakistan since last October, told China Daily that his experience in Pakistan's flood disaster was "profoundly affecting" and he thanked the Pakistan government for rescuing them.

"Although the whole nation is suffering from the flood, it dispatched two helicopters to save us," Mi said.

The 192 Chinese workers and engineers are mainly from Shandong, Henan and Sichuan provinces. They were to stay overnight in Urumqi and return home on Sunday.

Back in Pakistan, 14 engineers stayed to take care of the flood-ravaged project site and 59 workers were waiting in Islamabad for further arrangements.

The employees of Sinohydro Group were working at a hydro-power station project in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, one of the areas most seriously affected by the floods in Pakistan. A total of 265 Chinese workers were trapped by the flood and three who went missing were later confirmed dead, according to Sinohydro Group.

The embassy of China in Pakistan started the rescue mission as soon as it got the information. The Pakistan government dispatched emergency teams and equipments for the mission, and local Pakistan residents offered food, reported Xinhua News Agency.

An estimated 1,600 people so far have lost their lives in the flood. A total of 4.2 million Pakistanis have been affected and more than 252,000 homes were damaged or destroyed across the country.

In Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa alone, some 1,400 people have been killed, with 213 still missing, according to AFP.

Countries including Britain, China, Australia, France and the United States have pledged tens of millions of dollars in aid for victims of the disaster.

Shao Wei and Xing Yu contributed to the story.

China Daily