A total of 588 Taiwan tourists were stranded in Jiuzhaigou, a tourist attraction in southwestern Sichuan Province, according to a mainland spokesman on Wednesday.

Yang Yi, a spokesman with the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, told a press conference that emergency rescue was in progress.

According to the Chongqing branch of Air China, the airlines arranged four Boeing 737s to pick up all the stranded tourists in Jiuzhaigou, including the Taiwan compatriots.

The number of stranded tourists in Jiuzhaigou was not known yet. However, the Sichuan provincial emergency management office said on Tuesday that more than 2,000 tourists, including 15 Britons, were stranded in Aba Prefecture, of which Jiuzhaigou was a part.

The quake caused more than 12,000 reported deaths as of Tuesday evening in Sichuan alone.

(Xinhua News Agency May 14, 2008)