Heavy snow in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region had left one person dead and forced the evacuation of 5,435 as of 8:00 PM Friday, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs Saturday.

The heavy snow also flattened 799 houses and caused damages to 4,897 others in the region, the ministry said.

A total of 261,800 people in 12 counties or cities were affected by the blizzard hitting Xinjiang's Tacheng and Altay regions this week, which resulted in blackout and transport disruption in some areas, according to the disaster relief department of the Ministry.

The Ministry has allocated 5,000 tents, 10,000 cotton-padded coats and 10,000 cotton-padded quilts to, and the regional government appropriated 15 million yuan (US$2.2 million) for disaster relief in the affected areas, the ministry said.

The regional civil affairs authority has dispatched working group to the snow-hit areas to direct relief work.

Xinjiang was gripped by a cold snap from January 1 to 8, which brought heavy snow and drastic temperature plunge especially in Tacheng and Altay regions.

(Xinhua News Agency January 10, 2010)