Freak Blizzard/Sandstorm Kills 15 Members Of Chinese Oil Exploration Crew

[hatrack]

BEIJING- A freak blizzard and sand storm killed 15 explorers in mountainous remote northwest China on Friday, the Xinhua news agency said on Monday.

More than 70 explorers, hired by a company connected to oil giant China National Petroleum Corp., were working in Haixi prefecture in Qinghai province, bordering Tibet, when they were hit by a "heavy snowstorm, rainstorm and sandstorm simultaneously", Xinhua said. "Fifteen explorers were found dead and 13 others injured in the snowstorm which was unlikely to happen once in a century," an unnamed local official was quoted as saying."

EDIT

http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/30831/story.htm

[pie]

1. What actually killed these men?

I have never heard of a snow/sand/rain storm.
Did the men drown, did they freeze to death,
were they inundated by an avalanche, did they starve
to death?
Fifteen men is quite a loss.

[hatrack]

2. I would guess hypothermia

However, given a very short article, hard to say for sure. :shrug:

[pie]

3. You would think they could have gotten to these men in time

How 15 explorers, presumably seasoned outdoorsmen, in the employ
of an oil giant managed to die in this storm is beyond me.

[phantom power]

4. Things can go bad very very fast in the wilderness.

It sounds like this was a very strange and unexpected storm. It's not hard to imagine them being unprepared for some combination of events. Seasoned explorers get killed by stuff like that all the time.

[pie]

5. For some reason this story freaks me out

In this age of hi-tech communication
and sophisticated transportation
it upsets me that these men were not able to call for
and receive assistance before fifteen died.

Mother Nature trumps all.