Published by: World Tibet Network News Thursday, February 29, 1996

By Jane Macartney

BEIJING, Feb 28 (Reuter) - China welcomed aid on Wednesday, with up to 100 million yuan ($12 million) needed, for tens of thousands of Tibetan herders trapped by snowstorms in remote mountains and facing starvation as their yaks freeze to death.

``The bodies of dead cattle can be seen everywhere, even the vultures are not in the mood to eat,'' a government official said by telephone from Xining, capital of western Qinghai province.

``It is a scene of desolation.''

More than 60,000 herders and their families in the Yushu Tibetan prefecture, 3,500 metres (11,000 ft) above sea level, faced starvation in the most severe winter for years on the plateau on the roof of the world, the official said.

Some had begun trudging to higher ground in neighbouring Golog prefecture, at an altitude of about 5,000 metres (16,000 ft), to escape the savage snowstorms pummelling Yushu, he said.

``The snow in Golog is not so deep and the people should be able to endure the cold and survive there,'' he said. ``This is the worst such snowstorm in our history.''

More than 16,000 people were suffering from frostbite and 9,000 from snow blindness as temperatures plunged to minus 47 Celsius (minus 52F), Serge Depotter of Medecins sans Frontieres (Doctors without Frontiers) said from Xining. Temperatures have since risen slightly.

About 60,000 people are completely helpless because all their yaks and herds of sheep have died, the government official said, estimating that 700,000 yaks had been killed by the cold.

Qinghai has collected about 5.8 million yuan ($690,000) in aid from local and central sources and launched five airlifts to stranded herders, but needs another 10.6 million yuan ($1.27 million) to protect the 60,000 people hardest hit.

``We are in extreme need of food and clothing, especially woollen blankets and heavy cotton coats,'' the official said.

``Disaster efforts ... are in rapid process, and any international assistance to the snow-stricken areas are welcome,'' the Ministry of Civil Affairs said in a statement.

The province would need 100 million yuan ($12 million) and eight to 10 years to recover from the disaster that killed the animals that are the main source of livelihood for Tibet's traditional herders, he said.

The government had launched a rescue effort, backed by troops of the People's Liberation Army and medical teams from local hospitals, after 25,000 people lost all their livestock and 55,000 reported the deaths of 80 percent of their animals.

The deaths of their yaks had deprived the herders of their staple means of survival, said Depotter.

Yaks provide milk, meat and butter, their dung is used for fuel and their wool and skins for clothes and tents, he said, adding that the group hoped to start delivering food and medicines, by truck and on horseback, as early as next week.

The herders were being forced to burn bones of dead cattle and some had broken up family chests and wooden tent support poles for firewood to keep warm, the government official said.

Government search parties had been launched for missing herders who had gone out to look for their animals or stranded relatives, he said.

``But it is hard to reach the disaster area because the disaster area is 800 km (500 miles) from Xining and the snow makes travel difficult,'' he said.