A tour group of 31 caught in the epicenter came back to the city yesterday, with six members slightly hurt.

Up to yesterday, 1,113 local tourists who were stranded in Sichuan Province returned to Shanghai, local tourism authorities said.

In the afternoon, the group, which was organized by Shanghai CYTS Tours, reached the Pudong International Airport from Chongqing. Some members had fractured limbs.

"We were on the way to Maoxian County from Wenchuan County at that time, expecting to reach Jiuzhaigou by evening," said Wang Ge, the group leader.

"When the quake hit, a stone rain spell fell down from the top of the mountain, and our bus was seriously damaged."

Wang tried to open the emergency window, and the whole group managed to creep out of bus through the window and the door within one minute. Wang, however, broke his left arm and left leg during the ordeal.

After that the group tramped over the mountain for six hours seeking sanctuary. On the way, they were helped by Paishanying villagers, who gave them food, water and clothes, and guided them away from the mountain.

Group member Hong Jianxin couldn't help crying when telling his story. He said when he was exhausted, a villager named Wang Shunmin gave him food and water, and encouraged him to carry on.

"When we said goodbye, we left each other our cell phone numbers, but soon after we left, we heard a landslide hit his village, and I've never been able to contact him ever since," he said. "If only I had persuaded him to go with us."

The group reached Songpan, a relatively safe town, after about two day's trudging. Then the army soliders came to their rescue.

All tourists in the areas have managed to contact the Shanghai Tourism Administrative Commission.