(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-09-10 15:58

A military helicopter left Urumqi, capital of Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on Monday morning to join the search of six Russian tourists still missing in Hotan.

The helicopter is expected to arrive in Hotan at 6:00 pm after a journey in excess of 1,000 km.

It was scheduled to arrive in Hotan on Sunday, but was delayed due to poor weather conditions, an official with the Hotan rescue headquarters said.

By Sunday evening, around 1,100 people, including armed police, local farmers and herdsman, had searched 406 km of the middle and lower reaches of the Yurungkax River for the six men and their two local guides, who set out on a canoeing trip nearly three weeks ago.

Hundreds of people from Yutian County, where the upper reaches of the river are located, have also searched 80 km of the river.

The six Russians flew to Urumqi on August 11 before flying on to Hotan and later arrived by bus at Pulu Village, Yutian County, where the Yurungkax River originates, according to Zhang Hong, the tourist group's local Russian-language interpreter.

According to the original plan, the expedition team would arrive at the banks of the Yurungkax River that flows through Hotan on August 20, start canoeing the next day towards Cele and finish at Kashitashi Township in Hotan county, 30 km from Hotan City, in order to meet Zhang.

However, the six Russians failed to show up on September 2 as agreed.

A special eight-member search team has also left Pulu Village for the spot where the group began canoeing and will arrive in two days, a Hotan official said.