Beijing - Severe snowstorms have left at least nine people dead and trapped hundreds in China's Tibet region, state media said on Saturday.

Rescuers had evacuated 1,892 people in the worst-hit counties of Lhunze and Cuona in Tibet's Shannan district and were trying to reach some 250 people still trapped by heavy snowfall, the semi-official China News Service said.

Most of the nine people who died had either frozen to death or were hit by falling buildings brought down by the weight of snow, other reports said.

The worst-hit areas reported snow lying an average of 1.5 metres deep after heavy snow fell for 36 hours continuously earlier this week, the official China Daily said.

The newspaper said at least 144,400 yaks and sheep had died in what was reportedly the worst snowstorm on record in Tibet.

Telecommunications and roads were badly affected in parts of Shannan, while the heavy snow also affected mountainous areas of the neighbouring provinces of Qinghai, Sichuan and Yunnan, it said.

Those rescued from remote areas were sleeping in schools or government buildings, and officials had allocated tents, clothing and other emergency supplies, the newspaper said.

Cuona county had been cut off for three days but the main road linking it to Lhunze reopened on Thursday after road workers and paramilitary police battled for 63 hours to clear snow, it said. (dpa)