Traffic began to move again, but slowly, early on Tuesday along a national trunk road in Sichuan Province where a sudden weekend snowfall left 10 kilometers blocked, police said.

Snowstorms on Saturday afternoon hit the mountainous K2560-2580 section of the No. 318 national road and left more than 1,000 vehicles and 3,000 people stranded.

Local armed police were mobilized to help clear the section, which is located at Zheduo Mountain in Kangding County, Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. The road connects the provincial capital Chengdu with Lhasa.

Police worked two days and nights non-stop to clear the ice and snow, and by early Tuesday, traffic was moving again, according to Su Chaolin, a local officer. Five people were injured during the incident but are stable condition, he said.

Road clearing is expected to be finished on Wednesday, he said.

(Xinhua News Agency April 30, 2008)