Nine people have died in extreme snowstorms in Tibet, while nearly 2000 others have been evacuated to safer areas, Chinese state media said Saturday.

More than 2150 people, mostly herders, have been stranded in the eastern part of the Himalayan region by the storms, described as the worst on record. Around 1900 of them have already been evacuated, the Xinhua news agency said.

Linzhi, one of the areas worst hit in southeast Tibet, saw 36 consecutive hours of snowfall from last Sunday, with snow lying on average 1.5 metres (five feet) deep, Xinhua reported.

AFP