More than 400 fire-fighters on Sunday succeeded in putting out a forest fire that burned for more than 30 hours in a nature reserve in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The fire, which began on Friday afternoon in Kanas Forest Park, in the Altay region of northern Xinjiang, destroyed more than 10 hectares of forest, local officials said.

Fire-fighters holding barrels and basins queued to pass water from a river, the only nearby water source in the forest, to control the blaze and finally extinguished it at about 10:00 AM on Sunday.

Officials are still assessing the losses. Police are clearing the area to prevent new outbreaks of fire and have begun an investigation into the cause of the blaze.

(Xinhua News Agency June 8, 2008)