Tourists from the Russian Federation stuck in Heihe, China, cannot cross the border for the sixth day
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The situation with tourists stuck on the Russian-Chinese border remains tense. In both Heihe, China, and Blagoveshchensk, Russia, about 200 tourists are still unable to cross the border due to freeze-up on the Amur.
People can’t cross the Chinese-Russian border since November 3: then the last motor ship from Blagoveshchensk during this navigation was unable to moor to the Chinese coast. The Ministry of Economic Development of the Amur Region reported that due to freeze-up on the Amur River and the switch to transportation by hovercraft (Hovercraft), about 100 Russians are expected to return. Later, two hovercrafts joined in transporting passengers, but one of them broke down, and the other was unable to transport all citizens.
Now the number of Russians waiting to return is estimated at about 200 people, excluding children. They signed an appeal to the Far Eastern Customs Department, in which they asked to urgently take them across the cross-border road bridge across the Amur. Later they received a refusal from the local Ministry of Transport, since “there are no conditions for working with passengers at this checkpoint yet.” The authorities of the Amur region are exploring the possibility of transporting tourists from Heihe to Blagoveshchensk via the bridge, but have not given specific dates.
Passenger transportation between Blagoveshchensk and Heihe continues daily, despite the difficult ice conditions on the Amur River. According to official data, on November 8, 84 Russian citizens returned to Russian territory on Russian and Chinese hovercraft. Only 21 Russians traveled from Blagoveshchensk to Heihe on the same day. On November 9, 50 citizens entered Russia and 20 left. According to the Amur Ministry of Economy, transportation is carried out by one Russian hovercraft with a capacity of six people and one Chinese hovercraft with a capacity of ten seats. At the same time, the capacity of the ships that provided passenger transportation during navigation was 200 people.
People with whom Kommersant was able to talk say that it is now difficult to buy a ticket for a flight to Russia. Tourists report that there is no information about the real situation at the checkpoint. Ticket sales have not officially stopped; people are standing in line, but to no avail.
“The situation is very difficult, the Chinese are taking out those who were able to come to an agreement and taking payment. We agree to pay, but we don’t know who,” Oksana Kartishko told Kommersant.
“I have been standing here since November 6th. It is impossible to buy a ticket. On the phone they say that everything is fine, but in reality nothing is clear. First of all, they let tourists through in groups, and don’t even explain anything to everyone else,” comments Alexander Yarov.
“Citizens are asked to remain calm and not provoke conflict situations when trying to purchase a ticket at the box office of the Russian AmurASSO. These recommendations are primarily aimed at minimizing risks when returning back to Russian territory,” this message was released by the Ministry of Economic Development of the Amur Region.
The press service of Khabarovsk customs, in turn, reportsthat since the transport collapse occurred from November 3 to 8 at the customs of Blagoveshchensk and Heihe, more than 1.3 thousand Russian citizens have crossed the border in both directions. After SVPs replaced motor ships, passenger traffic decreased noticeably.
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