Nine people trapped by heavy snow in northwestern China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region were rescued on Wednesday evening and were all in good conditions.

According to Ii Ismail, deputy director of the regional government's general office, seven of them were carried by a rescue helicopter to the county seat of Narat at around 7:00 PM Wednesday, and the rest two stayed at the site where they had been trapped to take care of their livestocks.

Sufficient food and daily necessities had been left for the two people, Ii Ismail added.

According to the regional emergency office, an avalanche happened at around 11:00 AM Tuesday at Araxan village in Narat town of Xinyuan County, Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture, burying five passers-by and trapping nine others and some livestocks.

Bodies of the five, who were in an off-road vehicle, had been recovered by rescuers, according to the prefecture's highway management department.

The avalanche damaged two houses and killed 392 head of livestocks.

(Xinhua News Agency January 28, 2010)