Twenty people have died in China's western Xinjiang region from the worst snowstorms in six decades, the state-run Xinhua news agency said Wednesday, amid warnings of more freezing weather to come.
The blizzards and bitter cold that have pummelled the region near Central Asia since the beginning of the year have also left 1,304 people injured, the report said.
China has endured an unusually harsh winter, reaching its height since January 1 with heavy snow across vast parts of the north and west, with Xinjiang suffering the hardest from the Siberian cold fronts.
More than 1.5 million people have been "affected" by the weather, with more than 160,000 people evacuated.
China's state-run television has carried daily images of driving blizzards raking the vast region amid government efforts to rescue people and livestock.
The state weather bureau on Wednesday forecast more bitter cold for the next three days.
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