BEIJING, October 16 (RIA Novosti) - Rescuers in China's mountainous northwest Xinjiang province are searching for a group of seven Russian tourists who have not been seen for a month, the Xinhua news agency reported on Friday.

The search was launched on Tuesday after a report that one of the tourists is ill, the agency said. The group has not been traced so far, with search efforts complicated by poor weather, mountainous terrain and the lack of roads in the area.

The agency said the interpreter accompanying the Russians returned to the province's center Urumchi on September 15. The group is believed to be in an unpopulated area near the Kunlun Mountains.

The Kunlun is one of the longest mountain chains in Asia, extending more than 3,000 km. It runs westward along the northern part of the Tibetan plateau to form the border range of northern Tibet.