China closely following incident with Japanese tourists

A spokesman for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday said it is closely following an incident caused by sudden heavy snowstorms in China's northern Hebei Province, during which two Japanese tourists were killed and one remains missing.

"Relevant Chinese departments are closely following the development of the incident, and will make efforts to treat the injured and deal with the aftermath," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at a daily press briefing.

Four Japanese tourists were trapped over the weekend in a snow-covered mountain in north China's Hebei Province on a tour of a section of the Great Wall. Two were killed and one remains missing, local authorities said late Sunday night.