(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-09-18 16:55

Rescuers have succeeded in recovering the bodies of two Russian canoeists from the upper reaches of Northwest China's Yurungkax River where they were found four days ago.

Despite poor visibility due to a sandstorm, the rescue headquarters on Monday morning dispatched two rescue helicopters from Hotan City, in southern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, to the site about 150 km away.

The helicopters returned with the two bodies as well as 16 Chinese and Russian rescuers, said a spokesman with the headquarters.

The bodies, found on Saturday, were taken to a funeral home in the city, the spokesman said.

Plans to recover the bodies and the search for three other missing Russian tourists had been delayed twice by the sandstorm that started on Sunday afternoon.

"We will immediately set out to search the other missing people once the weather turns better," the spokesman said.

The identities of the two dead Russian tourists and the cause of their deaths are yet to be confirmed, he said.

Six Russian tourists failed to meet their Chinese interpreter in Hotan Prefecture as planned on September 2 after they began a canoeing trip on the Yurungkax River in mid-August.

On Sunday, rescuers retrieved another body on the bank of the upper reaches of the Yurungkax River, who had been identified as Vladimir Smetannikov, born on March 8, 1982. His body was sent to Hotan City on Sunday, but the cause of his death is yet to be confirmed.

The Chinese government has mobilized about 1,700 soldiers, policemen and local herdsmen to search for the missing tourists.

The other five Russians have been identified as Sergey Chernik, Andrey Pautov, Dmitry Tishchenko, Ivan Chernik and Alexander Zverev. The youngest was 25 and the oldest 47.