(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-09-10 16:25

A Russian mountaineer who fell from a cliff face in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is recuperating at a local hospital, government and hospital sources said on Monday.

Sergey Bezditko, 48, was in a coma after high winds knocked him off Mount Kongur in western Xinjiang last Friday, said a spokesman with the local government in the Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture of Kizilsu.

He was descending the 7,719-meter tall mountain with five other Russian mountaineers.

His teammates carried him to the foot of the mountain where they met a villager who also worked as a guide.

The villager made a stretcher out of his donkey cart and carried the Bezditko to the nearest police station for first-aid, after which he was sent to the No 1 People's Hospital in Kashi Prefecture for an operation.

Hospital sources said Bezditko had regained consciousness and was able to talk again on Sunday. He was still under observation on Monday.

His five teammates left China for home on Sunday.

In another development, around 1,100 people have been called up to join the search for six Russian tourists who were reported missing after they embarked on a canoeing trip in Xinjiang's Hotan Prefecture late last month.

The six Russians were identified as Vladimir Smetannikov, Sergey Chernik, Andrey Pautov, Dmitry Tishchenko, Ivan Chernik and Alexander Zverev, with the youngest aged 25 and the oldest 47.