Although no fatalities had been recorded, the Bureau of Civil Affairs said Friday 224,000 people were "facing difficulties", on top of the 97,000 people reported on Thursday to have been evacuated from their homes.

The government said Thursday that deep snow falls had damaged or destroyed many homes, forcing the evacuations of the 97,000 people.

The latest figures, given in a statement on the bureau's website, did not explain the difficulties the people were facing, but a local official said rescue efforts were underway to get shelter and food to those affected.

"We have sent teams to the localities to direct relief and rescue operations," an official at the bureau in the regional capital of Urumqi told

Much of the bad weather, the worst in 20 years in the region that borders Central Asia and Russia, was centered around the cities of Altai, Tacheng, Yining and Bole.

In worst-hit Altai region over one meter (3.3 feet) of snow had fallen since late December, while the mercury had dropped to as low as minus 43 degrees Celsius (minus 45 degrees Fahrenheit), the Xinmin Evening News said.

Some 60 centimeters (two feet) of snow covered other parts of Xinjiang, Wang Zhenyao, a disaster relief official with the civil affairs ministry, said on Thursday.

The State Meteorlogical Bureau predicted the cold spell would last for at least the next few days, and warned locals to expect more snow falls.

Average daily highs in the region were expected to remain as low as minus 17 degrees Celsius.

Aside from the concerns for people, the Civil Affairs Ministry said 9,000 head of livestock had already died because of the cold.

The Xinjiang News website said that number could soon multiply, as at least 300,000 head of cattle and sheep had been unable to graze because of the thick snow cover.

Winter is usually a harsh season for Xinjiang's 19.6 million people. Last year in March floods caused by melting snow destroyed 10,000 houses in the region.

In early 2001, devastating blizzards killed 130,000 livestock, and hundreds of people suffered from frostbite with some having to have limbs amputated.

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