A city official in northeast China's Qiqihar City said every effort is being made to restore heat to the families who have been affected by an equipment failure that has left many in the cold Wednesday and Thursday.

An equipment failure cut off heat supplies in parts of Qiqihar City, one of the coldest regions in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, and left at least 10,000 families shivering on Christmas Eve, the city government said on Thursday. [Xinhua]

Fang Dequn, a senior official with the city's construction department, asked city energy providers to abandon corporate interests and help fight the emergency.

He promised to restore the city's heating system within two days.

An equipment failure affected the heat supply to parts of Qiqihar City, one of the coldest regions in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, and left at least 10,000 families shivering on Christmas Eve.

The failure was detected Wednesday night at Qiqihar Thermal Power Co. Ltd, It affected residential houses with a total floor space of 5.4 million square meters in Jianhua District.

Party and city government authorities launched 17 boiler rooms to provide heating into the heat supply network served by Qiqihar Thermal Power Co. Ltd in an effort to prevent plant failure.

In the meantime, the city government organized the delivery of hot-water bags, electric blankets and heaters to local residents.

The city government also prepared 8,000 sets of temporary heating devices and distributed them to homes with lower temperatures.

According to the thermal power company, the problem occurred with its coal-feeding system.

A company spokesman said the system was repaired overnight and heating supply had resumed in 74 percent of the affected area as of 3 p.m. Thursday.

Local weather forecast says the minimum temperature in Qiqihar was minus 25 degrees Celsius Wednesday night and Thursday's maximum was minus 13.

(Xinhua News Agency December 25, 2008)